Noir Chronicles: Xia's Champion
by Creager
Summary: Third and final installment. Vlad's been reassigned. Five countries, five fledglings, five cities, five elements, five HONs, five chances. Luna's joining the fight with a twist.
1. Reassignment

Vlad Harris, a Son of Erebus warrior and very special Vampyre, stared out the window of the plane like a child would, still amazed at the scene before him. His consort sat next to him, sound asleep.

The man had been given the task of tracking down hives of ancient beasts by a Goddess who had marked him as hers twice. That was what he was doing. A new report came that the Noir were starting to build up in Berlin, Germany. He sighed and grabbed at his back for where a quiver of arrows would have been. Not being allowed weapons in the passenger part of the plane always made him wary of travel but he had no choice, since boats were all but decommissioned.

He looked around at the many empty seats of first class. Only a few were filled. A tall blonde woman was cursing at a flight attendant. The seat next to her had a girl with brown hair back in two braids, she wore a grey sweater. In front of him and Lacey sat a female with black hair with red streaks; this very punkish hair was up in ponytail.

"Vlad, my dear! Fancy we meet in a place like this!" A voice smirked behind him. He turned and saw someone who above all he hated: Xia Vampress. She was using the color red that day.

"Xia." He hissed, turning to face her. Again he reached for a weapon that was not with him, a sword this time.

"How is the quest going? Pretty well I can tell, if the scars on your pretty face are any indication." Xia smiled and leaned on the back of his seat. "How are the kids?"

Vlad hadn't seen the woman beaming at him since his children's birth, roughly fifteen years ago. That was the day she charged him with the task he was on his way to complete. "It's going as well as it can go, bitch." Vlad rolled his eyes. "And they're perfectly fine, especially without you in their lives. We're still not sure what to do with Yanette!"

"You can't stand to look at her, can you?" Xia's smile grew, both in size and creepiness. "Can't say your boy's name without cringing either?"

"What are you going to Germany for?"

"Do a little site seeing, haven't been since the wall was torn down! I bet Berlin's such a better place!"

He glared at her. "I know you; you have a reason for everything."

The other three women in the compartment laughed.

"Yeah, and it's usually make my life a living hell!" The brown haired girl next to the blonde groaned.

"Really? I always thought it was to get a piece of ass, Lola."

"That's all the other times, Ese." The brown haired girl replied to her neighbor.

"Why don't we ask Sophie's opinion?"

The girl in front of Vlad stood up and turned toward Vlad, pointing very childishly at Xia. "Don't ever listen to this woman, all she does is lie and fuck! But be sure to do everything she says, or you could become her next meal!"

Xia rolled her eyes at the people were apparently her friends. "Oh shut up, don't give him advice. He's gotten a lot done in these past few years."

Sophie shrugged and put her earbuds into her ears. She sang along with her iPod obnoxiously loud.

"But yes, you are right about the fact that I am going to Berlin about something other than the wall." Xia was suddenly very serious. "There will be five like you, each with their own problems and affinity. I have chosen these children out of the hundreds in their countries. Five countries, five fledgling, five cities, five elements, five HONs, five chances, and only one spoiler: We're landing at the same airport. Oh, and guess who mister mentor is? His name starts with 'V' and ends in 'lad Harris.' Also, prior mission, terminated as of now." She sat down and refused to talk to him the rest of the ride. He groaned and decided just wait for the information to come to him.

When they arrived at the airport he watched as Xia and her band of pale young women walked out. He have could follow them but they were expected at the Berlin HON. A fellow Son was waiting for them in the terminal. Lacey had been asleep during the conversation with Xia and was yet to be filled in on Vlad's silence.

A man with a map as tattoos smiled at them and took Lacey's bags. "I'm the Berlin high priestess's warrior. Siegfried Dymitri at your service."

"You know who I am, then? And why I'm here?" Vlad asked, following him to Benz waiting out front.

"Of course. Vlad Harris, _slayer_ of the Noir, defender of the innocent, all around good guy, man with many women; I could go on all day." Sieg smiled at the pair as he shoved their bags in the boot. (**I really should lay off the British car shows… **_**Top Gear**_**! Why must you corrupt me so? T^T)**

"You don't seem too thrilled about Vlad killing the Noir." Lacey said grumpily.

"I happen to be half Noir. I hate the bitch that put us into this war more than them."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Vlad stared at the older man. "You know Xia?"

"Know of. Because of her I lost tons of friends and a brother." With that he turned and smiled. "My priestess will be very pleased to see you."

Cleopatra Darth smiled at the silver haired man when he stepped into her office. "How have you been? Last time I saw you, you were a brat that didn't know anything."

Vlad laughed lightly. "Hasn't changed that much. How long have you been the High Priestess in Berlin?"

"About twelve years. I still haven't quite mastered the language." Cleo sighed. "When are you getting on our Noir problem?"

"I'm not. Xia told me to stop worrying about them."

Cleo snorted. "Xia saying something is a pretty good reason to do the exact opposite. When did she let you know this?"

"On the plane on the way here. I think there's going to be a mirror showing up here soon."

"Xia is in the city?" Cleo hissed. "She told you she was going to Mark someone in the city?"

**And so the third installment of The Noir Chronicles! Aw, poor Vlad. Missed you Cleo! Glad to see you return to the center stage! Anyway, hope you're as excited for this as I am!**


	2. Steffi

**Italicized dialogue being heard as German in story. For reasons of my inability to speak German and so you don't have to look it up. **

**Berlin, Germany.**

Steffi was sitting on a stoop in front of one of her friend's house, a cigarette hanging from her lips idly as she joked around with her friends. She was pale and had short dark brown hair with bleached to death tips. Her eyes were light brown and her build was very petite.

Someone called her name behind her.

"_Who's asking?_"She called back, her friends laughed.

"_I am._" A woman whispered in her ear. Steffi turned to look at a tall slutty woman many know as Bitch.

"_And just who the fuck are you?_"

"Your worst nightmare." Xia smirked and jabbed the girl in the forehead with the nail of her index finger. Blood sprouted from the prick as a blue crescent form. The goddess wiped the blood across Steffi's forehead as the girl lost consciousness.

Xia looked to two burly boys gawking at her. "_If you care about her, you'll take her to the House of Night._" With that she plucked the death stick from the girl's mouth, placed it in her own, and walked away.

When Steffi came to she was lying on a bed with three Vampyres arguing in, what as far as she could tell, was English.

"_What happened?_" She asked, sitting up.

The female vampyre smiled at her. "_You've been Marked. Welcome to the House of Night. I'm Cleo, high priestess._"

Steffi nodded. "_I thought I was too old to get Marked._"

"_How old are you?_"

"_Eighteen._"

Cleo sighed and looked at the two males. "She's eighteen."

"She's a special case, Cleo. You can't exactly expect Xia to just pick fifteen/sixteen year olds." Vlad replied.

"Oh, my dear deluded Mirror, you don't know Xia's tastes."

"Her tastes?"

"In people. For females it's fourteen through twenty and males it's forty to sixty, preferably with no kids and lots of cash."

Vlad grimaced.

"_His Mark is backwards…_" Steffi commented, nodding toward Vlad.

"She says your Mark's backwards, Vlad." Siegfried snickered.

"_So is yours. You're different from other fledglings. He can help you but right now I think you should just work on fitting in at school. What's your name?_" Cleo tried to smile as she told the girl that.

"_Steffi. How can I fit in with a backwards Mark?"_

"_You just need the right friends." _Siegfried informed her, handing her a handbook.

Steffi stared at the book. "_How much of this will apply since I'm different from other fledglings?"_

Cleo laughed. "_Not much. The rules and rituals."_

Steffi frowned, not finding it as funny as Cleo.

"_Anyway, the male with normal Mark is my warrior, Siegfried, and the other is your mentor, Vlad."_

"_Can he even speak German? How exactly can we communicate?" _Steffi scoffed.

Cleo smiled. "_We'll worry about that later. Why don't I show you to your room?"_

Steffi nodded and got up from the bed. Cleo talked at her as they walked across the grounds of the Berlin HON under the almost full moon. The fledgling wasn't listening as she looked around at the fledglings walking between classes. They all spared her a glance and looked back again to gawk after noting her strange mark.

"_They're staring at me…"_

_ "Yeah. They do that sometimes." _Cleo laughed as she walked into a building. They kept walking until the priestess spotted her fledgling.

"_Oh! Do I get a roommate finally!" _A girl with long, bleached to death blonde hair asked, approaching the two. The tips of her hair were dyed to resemble a rainbow. She was tan and had dark green eyes.

Cleo nodded. "_Steffi, this is Adelle. Adelle, Steffi. Be good friends and stuff. Oh! Schedule! Um…" _The high priestess pulled a piece of paper and pen out of nowhere, scribbling down classes and then handed it to the girl with the backwards mark. "Ciao!" And she ran off to her own homeroom.

"_How about I show you to our room then you can try to see how that schedule works out?" _Adelle smiled, glad of any excuse to get out of taking classes. The fourth former symbol was on her paint splatter sweatshirt.

"_Sounds good." _Steffi pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her pocket. She followed the girl as she lit up.

"_Ew, don't smoke in the room okay? I'm really sensitive to that." _Adelle skipped backwards, a few feet in front of her new roommate. "_Do you mind me blaring metal at all hours of the day?"_

_ "Hell to the no! I'd kill you if you played anything else!"_

Adelle laughed and nodded. _"I think we'll get along splendidly!"_

**Also note that I am not writing the intros for my main characters in order but as I have epic ideas as how to introduce them. I also generally can't count because the American school system has left me behind. (Chappies 6 and 7 finished~) I'll characterize Steffi more later. Also I don't feel like making everyone else's roommates. If you want give me a female with or without a name, thanks! If I get multiple entries I'll pick the one I like the most or just make it up anyway. Or maybe use them as other roommates… Name, hair, eyes, personality, clothing style, whether you want them to have a familiar or not. I will hit you if you give me character with a name the same as your username.**


	3. Tarak

**House of Night, Mumbai, India.**

A fifth former sat in his room, skipping class again. His phone was malfunctioning from all the texts he was getting from his roommate/boyfriend. Wavy black hair hung over his softly sun-darkened face. Eyelids hung sleepily over dark blue eyes. A student handbook and a Hindi text lay open on either side of him, as he caught a few z's.

His eyes shot open as the door opened. A woman smiled at him, ripping apart his soul as she did so.

"Hello Tarak." Xia, dressed in purple, smiled greater at his surprise. "I've chosen you as special."

The next thing Tarak knew, he was staring up at a shocked boy. "Hey, Akash, what happened?"

"Your forehead…" the boy replied. His dark brown eyes looked down worriedly through the dirty blond bangs straightened purposely over them. "I-…it's covered in b-bl-blood…"

Tarak shot up and over to a mirror hanging on the back of their door. He then ran into the bathroom and off his forehead with his roommate's bath towel. A sigh of relief was cut short as he realized what had happened.

"You're one of those…" Akash stated calmly. Their high priestess had mentioned Vampyres with backwards marks but when she talked about them it seemed like total mythology. "I-I'll go get Kimi…"

Tarak nodded gratefully and went to sit on the bed.

"It was nice to see you again, Kimi dear," A tall blonde woman said as she exited the priestess's quarters. She looked at Akash as he neared the room. "Looks like Xia is done her deed then."

The woman was then gone, walking down the hallway. Akash looked at the disheveled Priestess. Kimi Cookie looked up from her desk with a grimace, expecting any number of affinitied (**not an actual word**) females.

"Akash? What is it?" Her mood lightened as she stroked one of the cats on her desk, expecting him to have a normal problem.

"Tarak's mark…" The response caused a groan to escape the female's mouth.

"Alright. Details, go!"

Akash starred at his priestess.

She groaned again. "So it just flipped?"

"There was blood on his forehead when I walked in."

Kimi nodded thoughtfully, her hair bouncing happily. "Just like hers…"

"Who's?"

"Kaine Macabre was my roommate when I was a fledgling. We were good friends."

"Really! That must have been exciting!"

Kimi shrugged and picked up her phone, dialing the Berlin HON. "Go back to him, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Guten Abend, Berlin House of Night." A female voice said, it sounded half annoyed.

"गुड ईवनिंग! It's Kimi! I have some fun news to share with you!"

"Really? Because I kept forgetting to call you about some news of my own!"

"Why don't you go first, since I'm mostly calling to get someone's number."

"You and your phone numbers. Anyway, about a three days ago someone was marked, with Xia's mark. Luckily for her Vlad was in town at the same time!"

"Really? Because one of my boys' marks just flipped. By the way, if he's still there can you have him stop by?"

"Definitely. She's planning on marking at least three more fledglings."

"Ese failed to mention that when she was talking to me."

Cleo laughed. "So, yours was already a fledgling?"

"Yeah. A fifth former."

"Apparently Xia's picking older, Steffi's eighteen."

Kimi sighed. "Well I better go talk to him. Get that damned mirror's ass on a plane as soon as possible please!"

"You got it! I'll have Sieg book it right now."

"Why me?" The warrior asked in the background.

About twenty-four hours later Tarak was summoned to his priestess's room. Vlad was standing next to Kimi's desk when he walked in. He stared at the man's mark.

"So you're Tarak?" The man frowned. The boy nodded.

"Lovely. And you speak English! So you know vampyre stuff, eh? So we just need to train you up, figure out your element, and set you up with a filled in mark?"

"I guess… What's your element then?"

"I'm thunder." Kimi doubled over laughing. Vlad's face flushed from embarrassment.

"Boom!" The priestess yelled.

"Anyway, I think he should just continue with his school and set aside some time to read this," Vlad handed the book that Eden had given him several years ago to the boy.

Tarak opened it up and frowned at the odd symbols. He held it back out to Vlad. "I can't read it."

Vlad groaned and sat it back on the desk. "Steffi couldn't read it either. Xia's really trying to make my life difficult isn't she?"

"Xia wouldn't have it any other way." Kimi smiled.

"Well, you should head back to class. I'll begin lessons after she's done picking out suck- I mean fledglings."

"You're a sucker too, Vlad."

"So I can go?" Tarak pointed to the door. He hoped he could go grab a nap before his boyfriend drug him to class.

The vampyres nodded and he bolted.

"Babe!" Akash grabbed his hand as he passed out the doors of Kimi's office. He pulled him into a passionate kiss. "How'd it go?"

The mirrored fledgling shrugged and squeezed his lover's hand. Akash dragged Tarak toward next class, a groan of displeasure trailing behind the two.


	4. Fahima

**Please note all dialogue is heard as Arabic in the world of the story (English will be noted in quote tag. seriously Vlad, learn some languages).**

**House of Night, Cairo, Egypt.**

A girl with dark skin and golden eyes stood outside the priestess's office. Her black hair chopped short. The back spiked short and the bangs to her chin. The third former symbol was on the sweatshirt she had tied around waist. She'd been standing out there waiting for her roommate since classes let out.

The door finally opened. A girl sporting a hijab over her long, wavy ginger hair walked out the room. Her face was very pale and her light green eyes sparkled as she beamed at her friend. The sixth former insignia hung from a chain beneath the triple moon.

"What did you get in trouble for this time?" The darker skinned girl asked.

"I didn't get in trouble… well a little bit but," the ginger's words featured a thick British accent to her fairly perfect Arabic.

At this time a tall slender woman walked out of the room they were standing near. Her dark brown hair cut into a sleek bob and her eye makeup mimicking those of ancient Egyptians. She plucked the veil off the lighter skinned fledgling and glared down at her. "Cassidy, how many times do I have to tell you to not mock the Muslims? It's disrespectful."

"I've told her how much I hate it, but she apparently doesn't love me enough, Isis."

"Thanks for the effort Fahima. Now go do something." The high priestess told the two, tucking the scarf into one of her pockets.

Cassidy grabbed her roommate's arm and dragged her toward the dorms, waving enthusiastically at the priestess until they reached a corner to round.

Fahima looked skeptically at the older girl. Cassidy sighed.

"Well, there was the whole skipping class thing again, and the veil, and the scolding me for not taking my position seriously, and the disrespecting of professors especially my mentor…"

"Do you like making everyone think you don't care?"

"I don't care, that's the thing."

As they approached the doors to the dorms Fahima noticed a male sitting on the steps. He perked up and ran over to them, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"'Oh my God, he's wearing a fez!'" Cassidy exclaimed, pointing to the red hat on the fourth former's head. The two stared at her as though she had lost it. "Really? Nothing? Isn't there a BBC Egypt or something?"

"You've been here four years and you never noticed a lack of it?" The boy asked, taking Fahima's hand and leading her into the common room.

"Shut it Nuhad! You're just jealous because I get to sleep in the same room as you're girlfriend!"

"Your crush is flattering Cassidy but I keep telling you that I don't roll that way."

"You know you want me. Anyway, I'll be our room! Be good!" The ginger ran upstairs and entered her room.

A woman with long black hair looked at her. She was clad in green and standing over Fahima's desk. She spoke in English. "You're not the one I want."

"Oh? I see how it is, trying to take my girl too?" Cassidy replied in her native language despite her fear. The woman was radiating scary and staring at her as if planning to have her as a meal.

"Oh, I've had a claim on her long before you met her, child of Nyx."

"She's a child of Nyx too."

"No, she'll be one of mine soon enough. Don't inter-…" A girl came out the bathroom, drying her hair.

"Xia-sama, we should stay at a hotel for the night or something. Or is your house still standing here?" the girl whined.

"Oh Sophie, always so dramatic. We're departing for Brazil as soon as our business here is done."

"No way! I'm staying then! I'm tired of you dragging me everywhere! And where the hell is Lola!" Sophie then stomped out of the room.

"You're name is Xia? That's an odd name." Cassidy covered her mouth after saying it, reverting back to Arabic.

"Not as odd as a red head in Egypt. That's a British accent right?" Xia switched languages too. Before the aforementioned red head could reply with another potentially fatal remark Fahima opened the door and started to comment on how her boyfriend wanted to borrow a CD.

"Fahima, my dear." Xia closed the door, backing the native Egyptian against it. "Oh, it pains me to give you this. Especially knowing what the former holder of the element you will receive could have done… But I've made my choice."

"You're…" Fahima was cut off as Xia jabbed her forehead, flipping her mark as she had been doing so much lately.

Xia then moved the limp girl away from the door and left.

"Fahima!" Cassidy ran over to the girl and started wiping off the blood. The girl's boyfriend ran up the stairs and stared in horror.

When the new mirrored fledgling came to Cassidy and Nuhad were competing to stare at her in close range. The high priestess was pacing back and forth in the room, talking on the phone in English.

Fahima sat up she put her hand to her forehead. "What happened?"

The priestess shoved her smartphone into her pocket. "You're mark flipped."

"I still don't understand how something like that happens!" Nuhad said, turning away from the girl.

"Oh, Nuhad, obviously it all has to do with the Gods." Cassidy said condescendingly as she placed her arms around his shoulders.

"Someone will be here in the next few days to help you with this new stage of your life. Until then continue classes as normal, Fahima." Isis informed them and walked out.

And so they did. Fahima went through her normal routine for the next two days: going to class, scolding Cassidy, and hanging out with her boyfriend. A few fellow students asked for an explanation but otherwise it was fine. Then Vlad showed up.

It was Cassidy standing outside the priestess's office for once.

"Gah, can't she pick countries where people speak English?" Vlad asked in the language he wished to communicate in.

"I can speak English perfectly!" Cassidy burst into the room, tired have having to listen through the door.

"Excellent. You can translate between us."

Vlad gave the short version of what was happening, which took a while with the having to go back and forth between the two languages.

"Five? That creeper said something about going to Brazil next," Cassidy informed the male Vampyre.

He nodded. "I'll have to give the priestess there a call. Do you know what language they speak in Brazil? I know a bit of Spanish."

"Pretty sure they speak Portuguese."

"Damn. Well, Fahima are you ready to take on whatever Xia or I throw at you?" Vlad waited for the translation.

Fahima nodded bravely.


	5. Iara

**People speak Portuguese in Brazil yo.**

**House of Night, Manaus, Brazil.**

It had only been about eighteen hours since the Priestess of the Manuas House of Night had received a phone call from the warrior with the backwards mark when she was summoned to the infirmary to look at a girl with a blood covered forehead.

The warrior that carried her into the HON informed the priestess of the strange woman wearing blue (cough, Xia, cough) that had handed the girl to him then left.

Just to be sure, the priestess wiped off the blood on the unconscious girl's forehead. Upon seeing the mark she phoned the man she had talked to earlier that day. Vlad would be on the soonest plane he could book, so the Priestess tried to figure out what to do with the girl.

The new mirrored Fledgling had dirty blonde hair. Underneath her closed eyelids her eyes were dark blue. Her skin was lightly tanned and she was pretty muscular for a teenage girl.

Sighing, the priestess sat in a chair and waited for the girl to wake up. Thankfully for her it wasn't long.

"Where am?" The girl asked, sitting up.

"Manuas House of Night. You've been marked. What's your name?"

"Iara… So I'm a vampyre now?"

The priestess nodded. "You're not a normal fledgling though. Your mark goes the wrong way."

Iara frowned. "Wrong way? So I'm a freak!"

"No, of course not. Just different. In the Vampyre society that normally means special. Why don't we go get you settled into your room?"

Iara nodded and followed the priestess to the dorms. The priestess knocked on one of the doors and bolted. A girl opened the door and beamed at Iara.

"You must be my roommate!" The girl exclaimed happily. "My name is Jordan! What's yours?"

"Iara…"

"That's an odd name! But I bet you don't meet too many other people with it, hmm? Oh! Leila, that's the priestess by the way, said your mark would be backwards but I didn't expect you to look so normal!"

"You talk really fast…"

"Really think so? My parents used to tell me that all the time! So come on in! You can have the bed on the left!" Jordan pulled the mirror into the room and started to bombard her with personal questions.

"Where are you from? Here in Manaus?"

"No, I'm from the capital…"

"Really? I'm from São Paulo myself. Did you like it there?"

"I guess…"

For about an hour Jordan continued interrogating her. She only stopped because Vlad barged into the room.

"Iara?" He spoke in English while he looked the mirrored fledgling with a frown. "I'm here to help, sort of."

She blinked at him, incapable of understanding him. Jordan pointed at him, calling him a creeper.

He sighed and ran to get the English speaking Priestess.

"If you learnt some languages you wouldn't need a translator, Vlad."

He laughed awkwardly. Leila had told him that when he was there seven months prior to eradicate a Noir infestation. "So many other things to do, ya know?"

She rolled her eyes at him and then looked at Iara. "This man is the same as you. Though, hopefully, you'll be less dense."

Iara laughed slightly. "So he's supposed to help me understand and cope?"

"Yeah, basically. Hopefully he'll be a good teacher, though there's this whole communication gap…"

"What are you guys talking about? You're not making fun of me, are you?" Vlad asked.

"Nooo…." Leila smirked. "What do you need me to tell her?"

"For right now, knowing she's not the only one thrust into this situation would probably be comforting. There are currently three other Mirrors and there will be another."

The message was relayed.

"More? Are we supposed to be competing or working together?" Iara asked.

"Err… I'm not sure…" Vlad said, after the translation, truthfully not knowing. "That's an excellent question. Next time I see her bitchliness I'll be sure to ask her."

They discussed a bit longer before Leila announced the coming of day. Vlad headed for his guest quarters, suffering from severe jet-lag. Iara settled into unfamiliar sheets.

* * *

><p><strong>Super short... Sorry ^^" Review pretty please?<strong>


	6. Yannette and Cain

**Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada**

Three boys were walking home from school. Two of the boys were chatting noisily; the third gazed at his feet, deep in thought. The silent boy had dark brown eyes, from his father, and his mother's hair colour of light brown. His hair was straight and the bangs covered his eyes slightly. His face shape severely mimicked his father's but his height and muscles could be traced to his maternal side.

"Yo, earth to Cain!" The thick boy to the silent boy's left waved his hand in front of Cain's face.

"Uh? Oh, sorry. Thinking."

"Dude, you've been doing that a lot lately. If you keep it up your brain'll explode, eh?" the boy on his right said.

Cain laughed. "Nah. You'd be a better student if you thought once in a while."

"Ouch man. This is my stop, see you guys tomorrow." With that the boy to Cain's left walked across the street.

"So, what's up at home, Cain?"

"Why do you have to assume something is up at home, Boyd?"

"Because your home happens to be the vampyre finishing school."

Cain sighed and looked at his friend. Boyd was the only person that knew that Cain was the son of a vampyre and lived at the House of Night. "They're thinking about putting Yanette as a third former this year."

"Oh, and you're not okay with this?" Boyd said a bit mockingly.

"What happens if she meets a guy?"

"Do I sense a bit of jealousy?"

Cain punched his friend lightly in the shoulder. "That's disgusting man! She's my sister. My fucking _sister_."

"Your sister that you want to fuck."

Cain rolled his eyes and didn't dignify the comment with a response.

"Would it make you feel better if your best friend dated her? She really is quite the looker."

"Screw you."

"Maybe later, right now I want your sister."

Cain sighed again and leaned against the gates of the Vancouver House of Night. "See you tomorrow dude. And do your homework."

"Nah. Too busy fantasizing 'bout Yanette."

The gate pushed open with a painful groan and slammed shut. Cain walked over to the professor's dorms where he shared a small flat with his sister. He looked in on his sister, she was sleeping soundly, with a smile and headed to his own bedroom.

His father's cats were lying on his bed. Both looked up at him and hissed. They bolted out of the room.

"Stupid Thunder Cats," he groaned as he threw his book bag on the floor. He noticed his window was open so he walked over to close it.

Food. He was a teenage boy and their sole purpose in life is to consume as much food as possible, so he headed to the small kitchen in the flat.

A large white wolf stared him in the eyes as he entered the living room. He would have screamed, if he hadn't been so shocked.

"Cain Harris." A female voice came from the wolf, despite her jaw not moving. Cain nodded and kept its gaze, warily.

The wolf licked his forehead as he bent down in front of her to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He jumped up and ran out of the building, the wolf behind him a few paces. The boy didn't stop and kept going through the city.

A few hours later his sister woke up in her room, a cat on either side of her. She yawned and stretched. Yanette didn't look like either of her parents or her younger twin brother. She had green eyes and reddish brown hair. The only thing that could be connected to either parent was curly hair from her mother. She had overheard someone use the term "men groveling" in a description of her once. The girl had been marked since birth as a fledgling. Her general existence was a mystery to the vampyre High Council.

She peeked in her brother's room. "Cain?"

_That's strange… I don't hear the TV and his bag's here… _Yanette thought to herself as she headed back to her room to change out of her pjs.

After grabbing a Pop-Tart she headed up a floor to see the high priestess who was her and her brother's guardian. She could hear MJ yelling when she reached the door.

"She's not my fucking kid Vlad! … Yes I love her like my own, but I can't make decisions like this! … I don't give a shit! You could see them more often damn it!"

A bit more silence. "Oh, so now you're going to raise a bunch of children when you can't even spare your blood a phone call once in a while! … If Xia told you to jump off a bridge, would you? … Fuck you Vlad!"

"MJ?" Yanette asked as she walked in. MJ was staring down at the cell phone she had just smashed. Mary Jane had changed two years after Vlad had. Six months after that she was positioned as High Priestess of the Vancouver House of Night, the only HON on the west coast of North America. She had earned gorgeous tattoos that look like dolphins jumping out of waves.

"Oh, hi Yanette. Did you hear that?" MJ had single handedly raised her warrior's children, as he and his consort traveled around the globe to attempt genocide. She was very attached to the two children but often had phone fights like that with Vlad.

"It's fine. I understand." Yanette sighed. "Have you seen Cain? His bag's here and the Thunder Cats were in my room so he was home."

"For the millionth time, their names are Zig and Zag. And no, I haven't seen him."

"Did he tell you about having plans with anyone?"

"You seem worried about him." MJ seated herself at her desk and attempted to put her phone back together. "Do you know something I don't?"

"No. Nothing like that. Just he normally tells me about his plans."

"Maybe he's shopping for a girlfriend in the dorms. Or decided to make nice with the males."

"Doubt it. Despite him worshipping Nyx, I don't think he'd get along with fledglings. He's too human."

"There's nothing wrong with being human and being an active part of the Vampyre world. Have I told you the story about the human professor at the Tulsa HON?"

"A million times." Yanette sighed and sat across from the priestess. "What did Dad have to say about me becoming a student here?"

MJ sighed. Cain didn't even call Lacey and Vlad Mom and Dad, feeling they didn't deserve the titles. "He didn't say anything. Typical him. Worst warrior ever. Take my advice, be a lesbian. Guys blow."

Yanette laughed. "No thanks. I'm pretty sure I'm straight."

MJ shrugged. "Well I sent some things to the lab at the Manaus HON. I'll let you know my decision when I get them back."

"Sent what?"

"A sample of your DNA. You're not exactly normal."

Yanette sighed and nodded. "See you later?"

"Of course. After classes."

Yanette headed back to her room and sat in front of the TV and mindlessly watched the Discovery Channel for a few hours until there was a knock on the door.

"Come on in," she called, switching to History.

"Yanette, dearie?" A very seductive voice said as the click of high heels neared the sofa.

Yanette sat up and looked behind her. The personification of bitch stood smiling at her in yellow. She looked at her neck and saw a mark exactly like the one on her father's arm. "Xia..."

"Good good. At least one of you already knows a little bit about me." Yanette got off the sofa and backed toward the wall.

"What do you want with me?"

Xia smirked and walked toward her. Xia successfully backed her into a corner. After doing so she pressed a fingernail into the center of Yanette's mark and smeared the blood across it.

Yanette fainted into Xia's arms. She smiled down at her as she carried her to her room and laid her on the bed. The goddess sat beside her and moved a piece of hair from her face.

"Oh, my little Yanette. In another world your last name would have been Capulet." Xia kissed the girl on the lips and walked off the grounds, waiting to meet up with a friend in a local pizza shop.

**Don't worry little ones the next chapter will include Cain and where he runs off to. It'll also explain Xia's comment about Yanette's last name. It's also a really long chapter. Really long. But it's already written so that should be up right about nowish, if it's not already.**


	7. An Alternate FateEden's Dream

Mid-battle the high priestess noticed a Noir aim toward the fledgling with the affinity for air. She tried to get between the two but failed and saw Tilla fall, lifeless to the ground. Kaine shrieked and fell to her knees, eyes full of tears. Anmarie rushed over to try to keep the Noir from attacking Kaine, but Eos got in the way first. He only was bitten, but then easily sliced through its torso. He bent down in the middle of the battle to see what was wrong with Kaine, who was now unconscious on the floor.

Anmarie sighed in relief; she wasn't paying attention to herself and was grabbed from behind by a sick perversion of Siegfried and Sampson. He laughed. "I've got your priestess."

The vampyres closest looked at their priestess in fear, risking injury to see what was happening. Anmarie had a determined look on her face that could only mean one thing: they were to continue fighting and get out no matter what. The few warriors gripped their weapons tighter and continued the onslaught.

"It's been a long time." Sampson stood behind the monster holding the vampyre. Siegfried stood frightened at his side. "Dad."

The creature turned and frowned at his sons, still holding onto Anmarie. "So Siegfried has become a vampyre and now you're helping them, Sampson. Don't you think you've shown me enough disappointment?"

"I've disappointed you?" Sampson was angered and gripped the sword he had borrowed from the House. Anmarie nodded for him to swing, whether her head was there or not.

Not willing to see his priestess murdered, Siegfried tossed Sampson an abandoned firearm. Sampson whipped it toward his surprised father's head and fired a point-blank bullet through his skull. Anmarie squirmed out of the corpse, covered in the Noir's fluid. The Noir hissed in anger and fright, then scampered to safety.

Eos lifted his warrior with his uninjured arm, and draped her carefully over his shoulder. Sampson picked up the limp body of Tilla and motioned for everyone that was still alive to get out.

The sun was almost up when they returned to the House of Night. Circe and Eden turned ashen-faced as they watched the procession bring Tilla and Kaine inside. After laying Kaine on a bed in the infirmary, Eos himself fell, holding his arm and grunting in pain.

Draven managed to happen upon the infirmary, claiming the gift of healing. He proved it, though he was unable to help Eos or Kaine.

With no other fatal injuries, the vampyres and a few fledglings went back to their rooms.

Sampson stayed at Kaine's side as she mumbled. Cleo was taken aside by the high priestess as she made her way out with Draven and Siegfried.

"Wait until night to tell them." Anmarie smiled softly, tenderly, sadly. Cleo nodded.

Cleo found Eden and Circe sitting quietly in the breakfast hall with Kimi, not speaking and stirring soggy cereal. Cleo confirmed their original assumption of Tilla's demise, but informed the trio that Kaine was still breathing.

They burst into the infirmary where Kaine and Eos rested on a pair of beds. Sampson was holding the female's hand tightly but was asleep himself. Eden and Circe half pounced on him to question of their friends' statuses. Sampson knew that Eos wouldn't make it, but he had no clue about Kaine. He was possibly the consort of a vampyre that was dead to the world. The human couldn't bring himself to tell the girls that. He was allowed to remain silent because Draven conveniently walked into the room with a lab coat and a clip board. Kaine's priestess, ex-roommate, and undead friend gawked at him.

"Oh, and Draven is a healer," Cleo commented. "How are they?"

Draven yawned and then shrugged. "It's my first day on the job, how can you expect me to know what I'm doing?"

After being told by Anmarie that there was no change in the problem child or her fledgling boyfriend, they requested to go see Tilla's body.

The four fledglings gathered around Tilla's figure, which lay delicately frostbitten on a soft pine table. A terrible gash ran down her torso, staining the white stripes of her shirt a deep scarlet.

"We're waiting on her parents to decide what to do now." Anmarie explained softly, brushing Tilla's bangs to their familiar position draping her eye. "All parents know the risk of a fledgling passing. But for it to happen so quickly in battle... They were unprepared."

Eden started crying again, finding herself wishing that her roommate would come back like she had. She dismissed this thought; she was all too familiar with the pain of reawakening.

Anmarie motioned to another small table bearing Tilla's gun safely in its holster, and her yellow choker. "She left her belongings to you, Eden."

Eden shook her head, only sparing the objects a cursory glance. "They belong to Kaine."

Two days passed. Eden found herself often at Kaine's bedside, more time than she spent in the classes that carried on according to protocol. She looked down at the girl… lovingly. This shocked her-sure she had loved the girl before but this was different.

Circe and Kimi stopped in at breakfast, lunch, and dinner on both days. Cleo was dragged during dinner by her roommate.

On the third day, Eden walked into the room and saw Sampson lounged on a chair, asleep. Eos was on his bed, covered in the cold sweat of infection. What she didn't see was Kaine. The small powder room had its door open and the light on. Eden walked in and was hit instantly by the stench of vomit. Kaine was standing in front of the mirror, examining herself, as if expecting something new.

"Are you okay?" Eden asked. She almost cried from joy of her friend being awake.

Kaine turned toward her and smiled weakly. Her green eyes had a blue circle around the pupil. "I feel like crap, actually. And have a sudden need to watch Taboo."

Eden smiled too. Taboo was one of Tilla's favorite TV shows. Was Kaine punishing herself from guilt?

Kaine hobbled into the room and looked at Eos. She hadn't noticed him when she first woke up. She frowned and turned her head sharply from the bed. Eden asked about her status again. The warrioress wiped a tear from her eye and walked over to Sampson.

He awoke at her touch and looked at her disheveled appearance. He instantly bent his head back to make his neck easier for her to access. After being drunk from he rushed to their room to grab her some clothing.

Eden watched her curiously as she sat next to Eos, holding his hand, devoid of emotion. Kaine knew she was being watched but continued looking at the boy she had killed.

"What is it like to be dead?" She didn't look up at Eden. The red fledgling wasn't even sure if she was talking to her with the tone she used. Before she could answer, Kaine smiled, amused at an answer from someone else (_It sucks balls!Since I've been dead I've had to take up residence in your sex filled brain. It's worse than hell! _Tilla thought at Kaine.)

"I was with Nyx, but she told me I was not supposed to stay with her at that time. I'm sure it can't be bad if it's with Nyx." Eden said. She was a bit confused by her friend's actions. "I figured you would want some of Tilla's things."

"Just the gun."

"Not the necklace?"

"She wants you to have that. Wear it as a memento of her." Kaine smiled to herself. Eden gauged Kaine's unnatural happiness and concluded she would need to be relocated to a ward.

They sat for a short time before Kaine sighed and dropped Eos's hand. She kissed his forehead softly and whispered an apology into his hair.

Kaine walked over to where Eden was standing and looked at the girl tenderly. Eden felt herself blushing as Kaine brushed her cheek. Suddenly a pair of soft lips met hers and was filled with a whirl of emotions, being presented with the two halves of a soul she was made for.

As Kaine backed off with a smug smile, Sampson walked in with the clothes requested by the girl. Eden found herself blushing deeper than she ever had. She gaped at her soul mate, waiting for an explanation.

* * *

><p>"Did I miss something?" Sampson asked as Kaine took the clothing and stripped, without consideration for anyone else in the room. She didn't look at Eden or her consort as she made for the door. Before exiting she threw a quick sympathetic glance at Eos.<p>

She was followed by the pair. A smile filled her face as she listened to the hushed conversation they were having. Down the stairs of the infirmary and across the grounds, they stalked her and she said nothing to them.

Eden estimated it to be about the beginning of breakfast and grabbed Kaine's arm before she could reach to open the door to the cafeteria. Sighing, Kaine looked at her.

"Yes?"

"Why the hell did you kiss me?" Eden questioned. She was a bit angered by the lack of explanation earlier.

"You know damn well why I kissed you."

"So you actually kissed her?" Sampson asked skeptically. Eden scoffed at his disbelief in her.

"Why shouldn't kiss my Soul Mate?" Kaine asked nonchalantly. She shrugged. "Same reason I shouldn't drink from my consort?"

"Where the hell is all this soul mate crap coming from all of a sudden?" Eden snapped. Deep down she believed it, but her logic leapt happily in front of the joy her soul had experienced from the kiss.

Kaine counted on her fingers with an expression of deep concentration. It was broken with a sharp smile of amusement (_I bet you look really funny from where they're standing!_) only temporarily_._

Kaine sighed and looked at Eden. "The book from Xia? In my room. I'm sure you've seen it."

"A book from _Xia _told you that you and me were soul mates? Is that what you're telling me?" Eden said it very slowly, just to make sure Kaine comprehended.

"No, a note in the book said Tilla and I **am** your soul mate."

Eden gave her a dead pan stare. Again the Vampyre sighed. _(Hi Eden! Did you miss me_?) "Tilla is in my head… She can't hear you, just so you know."

"Tilla is in your head but can't hear me?"

"No! Are you stupid? You can't hear her."

Sampson looked at Kaine worriedly. He then exchanged a look with Eden and prepared to rush off to look for Anmarie. Kaine stopped this was a tug on his arm.

"And where are we off to?"

"You obviously need help." The human frowned at her. "Witnessing Tilla die obviously did something to your brain."

Kaine rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, really. A bit drained and still slightly nauseous, maybe a little depressed or guilty; but otherwise I feel perfectly fine."

Her two companions replied in way of a disbelieving glance.

"Really, if I went schizo, don't you think it would be for someone I actually cared about? Like maybe after Eos passes have him in my head?" Kaine smiled. (_Fine, I see how it is. Watch me not help you grind anymore._) "Just kidding Tilla. You know I love you."

"Eden do I have to kiss you again or will you believe me?" Kaine looked at the door. "Man, am I hungry."

Without waiting for an answer, she strutted into the cafeteria. Kaine grabbed a tray and smiled at the vampyre serving food behind the counter. Eden and Sampson watched her from the door, hoping for her to get her food and walking back to them. She didn't. The vampyre headed straight to the table that all their friends were sitting at. The two sighed and made their way over there.

"Kaine!" Circe and Kimi smiled and hugged her. Cleo smiled at her. "Are you okay?"

Kaine smiled and nodded and started on her food.

"Can we have Kaine?" Eden asked. "There are some nice people in white coats with a long needle with her name on it."

"Where is my sword anyway?"

Eden rolled her eyes and stood impatiently at the lack of being taken seriously.

"Circe, my dear priestess." Kaine looked over at her and her consort. She was looking back at her. "You would believe me about the existence of soul connections, right?"

"Anyone that was in the cafeteria the day you gave me your oath would have to be crazy not to."

Kaine smiled at Eden. "You know what, if you really think it'll convince me, go ahead and kiss me again." Kaine obliged.

"Fine, goddess. I believe you."

"Good. I'm going to go see Anmarie." Kaine kissed her again. "See you later babe!"

Eden then was left to explain the actions of her suddenly crazy friend. Circe managed to convince Kimi, Cleo, and Siegfried, despite not knowing first hand. Just the power of a priestess.

"So now that you and her are soul mates, are you going to start sleeping together?" Kimi asked innocently. Eden twitched.

"She's really good in bed." Siegfried said absently. He blushed after figuring out he had said it aloud.

After breakfast everyone insisted that Eden go to Kaine's room and wait to check on her. Eden sighed and walked to the teachers' dorms.

* * *

><p>The next thing Eden knew after walking into Kaine was walking past her, stomach as large a pregnant woman's nine months into pregnancy. She had Sampson by her side. Together they were rushing for the door. Eden was confused.<p>

"Come on! It's time!" He told her. Eden looked at him as if he were daft, which he probably was from spending so much time with Kaine. Poor bastard. She looked over at the calendar and saw that seven months had passed since her last memory. Blacking out for more than a few hours was weird and unhealthy and she just lost seven months!

"Apparently vampyre gestation is shorter than a human's." Kaine said with a smile. She held her bulge with a slight look of pain. Eden sighed heavily and rushed with the two toward the infirmary.

Anmarie was already there with a mask and gloves. Draven stood nervously beside her. In a flash Kaine was in a hospital gown and her legs were on stirrups. Eden felt immense pain and looked down and saw Kaine squeezing it with all her Vampyre strength. She would definitely have to talk to Anmarie about this blacking out later.

She also saw Draven on the floor unconscious, a shoe print, matching Anmarie's pumps, showed he had been kicked out of the way. Sampson was on the only side of Kaine. He wiped the sweat from her forehead like a sibling would. Kaine herself looked very pained, though that can be expected from child birth.

"Come on Kaine. You're doing so well!" Anmarie said in an awkward tone, from under Kaine's gown. "I can see her head. Or her head."

Eden twitched as Kaine squeezed her hand harder.

In a several minutes (or a few hours; I do not claim to be an expert on child birth since I have never done it.) Kaine was holding a beautiful baby girl. Anmarie and finally dragged Draven up to a bed to try to slap him awake.

"What are you going to name her?" Sampson asked, looking down at the mother and child. She smiled.

"Tilla. Tilla Capulet." Kaine replied. Eden frowned and wondered how insistent Tilla was being up there.

"Capulet? Why my last name?" The human replied. "You know she can't be mine."

"Sampson. Meet your baby sister."

"You mean she's that thing's?"

"Your father's yes."

"Can I hold her?" Sampson's face was filled with a range of emotions.

"She's beautiful just like her mother." Eden found herself saying. She bent down and kissed the new mother. Anmarie interrupted them with a clearing of her throat.

"Are two just going to ignore the mark on her forehead?"

"Of course not Anmarie. We'll deal with it, but right now let's just be happy about this new addition to the world."

Anmarie nodded and turned to look at the stampede rushing into the room. Circe and Kimi were fighting for the lead. Cleo and Siegfried followed a bit slower, and less aggressively.

All four rushed to Kaine to ask her if she was okay.

"Just fine. But I will definitely not be that again." Kaine smiled. "Damn you guys and being infertile."

They all laughed. She looked at Siegfried. "Why don't you go say hi to your new sister Sieg?"

"You mean it isn't mine?" Siegfried said, in a very mocking tone. As he went over to Sampson, Cleo followed him.

"You named her after me right?" Kimi and Circe said in unison.

"No. I named her after Tilla."

"I'm going to hound you forever for not naming her after me you know?" Kimi said, offended.

"You, I can hide from."

They laughed again. "So, how does Eden feel about being the other mom by default?" Circe asked.

"No one said anything about me taking care of the thing." Eden said in a defensive tone. She looked at Kaine and groaned. "I'm fine as long as I don't have to deal with boy problems or anything involving life."

"I was thinking more along the lines of picking up her up from daycare for beating up all the other kids."

"Do you want me dead?"

Eden suddenly found herself in the cafeteria, surrounded by fledglings. She looked around and saw someone familiar. _Great now I'm going back in time._

It was Kaine. Her mark was still only that of a fledgling. When did she have her hair curly while she was a fledging?

"I can't believe Mom had you come baby sit me on my first day." It clicked

"Tilla."

"I know, I know. Don't argue with her right now. If you and Sampson don't knock that shit off I may explode."

Eden frowned. Last time she remembered seeing this child she had a normal mark. Geez no wonder Kaine was apparently unable to be argued with.

"I still don't believe you that she's losing it because she can't talk to the voice in her head." She sighed angrily. "After sixteen years I would think she'd be glad to get rid of it. It seems damn right annoying."

"Don't talk about her like that!" Eden found herself with her hand in the follow through of a bitch slap. Who had she defended? Kaine? No. The child was not saying anything against her mother other than normal teenager angst. Tilla, then. But the real Tilla was dead, long dead apparently.

"How dare you?" the fledgling threw her tray down and rushed off.

Eden looked around again. No one had a face. Just the marks on their foreheads.

"None of this is real." Eden started laughing hysterically. "Just a cruel trick!"

* * *

><p>Eden opened her eyes at the touch of another. Tilla's face was hanging over hers. It was cold. The undead fledgling hugged her Vampyre soul mate tightly, almost tearing up. "We're out of fire wood."<p>

At that Eden looked around and remembered the log cabin she was in and what actually had happened. She swung her legs off the couch and yawned. "Can't you do it?"

"I heard a wolf howl. I don't want to get eaten." Eden shook her head slightly. There were no wolves near Cove Forest**(which is an actual forest!),** much less in it.

"But you're okay with me getting eaten?"

"Exactly. And if you get attacked you'll have Baghera."

"Because my house cat would do more against a wolf than your fox."

"I'm glad we're on the same page here! More and more proof we belong together."

Eden, despite her efforts to stay inside, found herself in the middle of the woods, although familiar, scary and dangerous. Tilla's winning argument was that her soul mate would burst into flames if she waited till daybreak. This would leave dear Tilla alone. In the woods.

She could see perfectly fine too. With the light of the moon and everything, there was really nothing for her to fear. Plus, as a red fledgling her senses were heighted, plus as Tilla slowly got better from isolation and only occasional contact from funny accented humans; she had slowly gone mad. And there was the whole thing about being the established top of the food chain.

"The fudge was that dream about?" Eden said crazily to herself. She thought for a second, looking at the ground for any good kindling. "Why did I say fudge? I'm not a kid anymore." She looked over herself and restated that. "I'm not a kid in mind or spirit! Plus I'm alone in the middle of the woods! The birdies are not expecting me to be 'polite.'"

She stopped walking and stamped her foot on the cold forest floor. As if having turrets, she screamed, "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

On this particular night, our dear fledgling was acting even madder than usual, no doubt on account of her awfully confusing and crackfic-worthy dream that was interrupted. There's also the being a fledging for the past twenty-five years with very little change to looks would not do one's mental facilities any good, I would imagine. So all in all, our poor little child of Nyx is muttering to herself, wandering through the woods.

_This dream was brought to you by the letter "M." _A familiar but implacable female voice said in her head. At this she yelled up at the almost full moon.

"It isn't almost full, it was full just yesterday. It's now on its way to being a new moon, again." Eden continued her search for wood. Somewhere earlier she had picked up a very bad fake British accent for no reason. "I hate new moons. I hate the moon. They're so mean to me. The Goddesses, they've been leaving us alone. I must thank them for not coming to us."

She growled. "I hate the Moirae too! Can't I get some choice in my life?" At seeing a nice piece of a large fallen tree branch her eyes sparkled and she smiled for a second before continuing her insane, but well justified rant. "I love Tilla and I loved Kaine, but must my entire live revolve around them?"

"I'm the hand puppet, or guard dog depending on the situation, of the love child of Nyx and Xia! How do two goddesses produce a mortal! How the fudge do two females produce anything but nasty arse yuri!" She sighed in frustration. "There I go using fudge again!"

"FUCK! ASS! SHIT! BITCH! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! _FUCK!_"

"I'm calm. I am perfectly calm." She smiled, very similarly to many crazed supervillians, such as The Joker, Santa, Your Mom, and Mojo Jojo. "No one knows where we are, Tilla is getting better and I'm okay with staying a fledgling. I probably only have one life left after my first run in with a bear, but I'll be fine. It's been almost fourteen years without any close calls with death."

Several more minutes of her ranting similarly to this passed without really having any bigger problem than her general loss of sanity. (**Stay in school kids. Even if you're in your forties, wait until you look like you're ready to leave school. Don't wanna turn out like Eden hmm?) **As she got onto her theory of Osama Bin Laden, Darth Vader, and Voldemort having an evil-dead-guys yacht club she sensed something unfamiliar and just plan odd. She dropped her wood pile onto her toes which she would complain loudly about later when her life might not be in danger. Let's be honest, she's paranoid and completely bonkers, it's probably just some migrated species of squirrel that she hadn't encountered before. She thought it was something so she stood battle ready, as the thing got closer and closer. Conveniently she was in a clearing.

From the trees came a boy. (**One for Eden. Zero for Creager. Sucks when an author loses to her characters )** He looked tired and out of breath. He only stopped upon seeing the big scary vampyre. "Why the hell are you following me?" She yelled across the two meters they were apart. She followed this with an impressive growl/hiss thing in the back of her throat.

"I wasn't… I mean…"

"What was that?" Eden took a cautious step or two closer. "What the hell are you supposed to be? What kind of respectable vampyre has a target on their forehead?"

Again the boy stumbled in fear and confusion.

"I told them not to follow me. I told them to leave us alone." Eden looked around and sniffed. She smealt nothing except nature, herself, and the boy. She yelled to the tree tops. "I know you can hear me Xia! Nyx! I'm not doing your bidding anymore. Nor yours Lachesis, Clotho, Atropos!"

Eden looked at the boy again. She overlapped familiar features onto his face and hissed. "Get out or I'll kill you. Or your damned consort! Maybe a mate or priestess? Whatever the hell it takes to get you away from us!"

The boy made no moves to attack or defend. Only shock from his previous experience and current verbal thrashings filled his mind.

"Come out Goddesses! One of you! I know that you're fucking there!" Eden covered her mouth. "I'm among people! Fudge!" She laughed and repeated the word several times before being interrupted.

From the trees, nearer the boy than Eden came a large wolf with a gorgeously soft fur, the color of moonlight. It looked at the boy. The boy shuttered away. The wolf then gazed at the fledging vampyre.

"Eden, be still." It said in a beautiful feminine voice though an unmoving jaw.

"I made it clear that I wanted to be left quite alone." Eden said, glaring at the perfect vision of a woodland animal. "Though I'd rather it be you than any of your sisters, Luna."

"I do not come on a social visit. Blame _others._"

"What the fuck would they send you here for?" Eden laughed. "There I go with my swearing again."

"Your choice has come and he stands before you."

The boy stared at the wolf with an even more frightened countenance than before.

"Is there a decapitate-and-put-skull-on-stake-as-example option?"

The wolf looked at her seriously (**because all of a wolf's expressions aren't serious. Does it seem like I comment in this more than I have in all of my other stories put together to anyone else, or is it just me?) **"Would that get anyone anywhere?"

Eden sighed and crossed her arms. She had a mini temper-tantrum inside her head before glaring at the wolf again. "Say I would pick which ever choice is good and change-y –is change-y even a word? – what would I have to do? All of this being hypothetical of course."

"Of course." With that the wolf goddess changed into her less BA but still awesome human form. Much more comparable to her fellow moon goddesses while in a similar form as them. That day Luna had her color set to a lovely baby blue, not that that is relevant, but it's hard to keep up with Luna and Xia's wardrobe changes on any given day. "Help him. He's one of mine now."

"Do I get any equipment to do this with?"

Luna pulled a book out of a bag hanging to her side. She handed it to the fledgling vampyre and smiled. "One book and your natural charisma."

"What in the world made them want me to train something I don't know how to be myself!"

"Ever train a dog?"

"Yeah. I had one while I was _human._"

"Basically the same thing."

"Why did Xia have to go and start a war with them anyway?"

Luna stared at Eden until she frowned and shook her head in defeat.

"You have one month. I may check back on him then. Might not."

"Why one month?" Eden asked, annoyed at lack of directions. At least Luna was blunt about her lack of information. Unlike the riddles Nyx dished out and the mind rapes Xia gifted.

Luna was already back in her wolf form. She winked and ran away, shrinking rapidly into the forest.

Eden looked at the book. It was leather bound with a leather strap tied to a metal ring as a clasp. She flipped it over to the front. Two closed eyelids, that looked filled with eyes, were above the title. "How to be a Werewolf in a World of Vampyres and a Mirror or Two."

"Ah fudge…"

* * *

><p><strong>The first part, Eden's dream, was just something I did to relieve my boreom. I do a lot of that kind of stuff. Then I added the other part to make it a dream. It was just supposed to be the Alternative ending to "Kaine." Anyway, hoped you liked it! Now I have to figure out how I'm going to do the six different story lines... Reveiw please! Pretty please?<strong>


	8. Puppers' First Lesson

**Cain Harris's Point of view**

"Werewolf, huh? Well, my little Pup, we've a month. By the end of it, you better be a respectable opponent, or Tilla's going to have a lovely piece of wolf pelt to work with."

"Uh…I'm so confused." I groaned.

"Join the club Pup, we're ordering T-shirts," the gruff female replied mockingly. Her dark curly hair was knotted heavily and her clothing was covered in dirt. There an outline of a red crescent on her forehead. MJ loved telling Yanette and me stories of the Red Vampyres that were exclusive to the Tulsa House of Night.

"You're a fledgling." I stated obviously.

"Good job Pup! I've been a fledgling for the better part of twenty-five years!"

My jaw dropped at that statement. So many oddities out there apparently.

"Technically you could be considered a fledgling too, Pup." She laughed and smiled creepily. "You can call me Master, or Eden. Apparently I've been given the right to pretty much teach you whatever, however I see fit!"

"Don't call me Pup, my name is…" Before I could finish my sentence she threw a rock at my head. I yelped and barely ducked.

"You're name shall be 'Pup' and you will answer to it, eh?" She put joking emphasis on the "eh," mocking the country she was living in. Typical Americans. I rolled my eyes at her and nodded.

"So if you would follow me, my soul mate is waiting for firewood…" Eden said, picking up a pile of wood and shoving it in my arms. "A big strong wolf like you can carry all this right?"

"Wait, Eden _Anastasia, the _Eden Anastasia?" I asked, finally recognizing her from pictures.

She simply shrugged and started walking. I followed quickly since she was the only one that could, apparently, help me. "Do me a favour and **never **mention Vampyres in front of Tilla. Or I'll kill you."

I grimaced, anticipating the future death threats to come. "So why did you and Tilla leave your House of Night?"

"Up on your modern Vampyre history aren't we, for a human at least?" She added another log to the pile. "Pup?"

"Well I wasn't exactly a normal human before I became a werewolf… I thought they didn't exist…"

She mumbled something under breath quickly that I couldn't catch. "Yeah? Well they are. Since you are one."

I sighed. "You never answered my question _Master."_

"Ew. Don't call me 'Master.' It makes me sound like a Sadistic Seme."

No matter what I asked her, she refused to talk to me about her life since the Vampyres had last seen her; only strictly repeating not to mention the species that she was. After a bit of walking we happened upon a log cabin sitting in a small clearing. I could hear a small generator and see a light on. A grey cat sat on one of the window sills. Eden took something out of her pocket and pat a powder onto her forehead, covering up her mark.

"Tilla? I got firewood and new pet!" She said as she opened the door. I stared in awe at the woman Eden was talking to. The famous Tilla Ceol was sitting in front of a small TV playing video games in a cabin in the woods near Vancouver! All this time!

The woman looked over at me, in slight shock. She then pouted at Eden. "I'm not good enough for you anymore! You had to go get yourself a young boy!"

Eden rolled her eyes. "This is Pup. He's a werewolf. I've been charged with teaching him how to be such."

"Pup?" Her eyes and smile widened. "Can I call him Puppers?"

Eden nodded. She seemed mildly pleased about something. I wondered what kind of hell I would be in for as _the_ Eden Anastasia and _the _Tilla Ceol taught me how to be something that was until now was considered little more than myth.

During the next few days I spent with the two I learnt nothing. Tilla was very kind to me but Eden seemed wary. Their pets seemed to share their feelings toward me. It was like two moms were added to my impressive number of parental figures, and of the five they were the best (despite the fact that if I did anything that slightly offended Eden I would be gravely injured).

I ended up on the couch which was surprisingly comfortable, which accounted from Tilla's love of video games and Eden wanting her to be comfortable as she spent hours mindlessly holding a controller for one of the many consoles they owned.

On the fourth day there, I woke up to see Eden angrily chasing her cat. Tilla and her fox were no where to be seen. I sighed and grabbed the TV remote, seeing if they had any good channels. They didn't have any.

"Hey, Eden, why do you have a TV but no stations?" I asked, walking over to the pantry to grab some dried meat and a warm soda.

"You're up? Finally, any longer and I would've had Bagheera claw your face! Today we begin." She said, grabbing the book with the eyes. I looked at it warily as it eyed me up.

"From the book?"

"Don't be daft! I just taking it along for something to look through while you complete the task I'm going to charge you with, Pup."

**Lesson One: How Not to Make a Salad**

Eden dragged me into the middle of the woods and sat at the base of the tree. She looked at the book, which opened with no fuss. "Okay, Pup. You're in the woods. But you've been injured by a bear. And don't deny it—you so couldn't take a bear right now. Your injury leaves hunting out of the equation. You have no human money, so you're going to have to tough this one out yourself. What are you going to eat?"

I stared at her for a second. I though carefully, not wanting to get my head bashed in from saying something reckless. "Plants?"

"Good doggie. Now go make a salad." She told me as she picked at her cat's fur and paged through the book.

I looked around at the assorted plant life in the immediate area. To be truthful I could have known what was edible and what wasn't if I would have paid attention to my sister on any of the occasions she drug me to the green house or read aloud from a wildlife book. Pressing my luck I started picking random leaves and berries. When I had finished picking what looked the most edible, I dumped the pile at her feet.

"Ah, Dahpne berries. Shares namesake with the maiden nymph of Greek mythology, who transformed herself into a laurel to escape Apolle. What a treat." She stated softly. The woman pried off a berry from the sprig she had been twirling and held it between her teeth.

I almost sighed, for her tone. But one thing I knew about mythology, it doesn't normally end well. The berry was spat at my forehead at an impressive speed.

"Are you trying to poison me? A few of these can kill a human child. If you had made the folly to feast upon them, you'd be ill. Now go make me an edible salad this time."

Groaning I headed back into the forest, hoping to eventually please the crazy old woman. After several tries I eventually memorized several inedible and edible plant life; Yannette would be so proud of me, eh?

**I would love to send a shout out to my lovely personal friend Paradisemomiji! She loves me so much and thinks I'm so awesome she wrote a fanfic about my fanfic (which she's, unfortunatly for you guys, not uploading) and in it she had all of Puppers' lesson done in Eden's POV so now I just have to switch it to protaganist number six. ^-^ His older sister interacting with her father should be up next... Unless I change my mind... Sorry for stopping the updates again. School takes so much out of me... Creager out~**


	9. Father and Daughter

**Like yo, or something. Sorry I haven't done anything in forever. Here's a chapter, read it, love and/or hate it, review it (most important!).**

The phone on Vlad's night stand rang violently. He lifted his mouth from Lacey's neck and wiped his lips.

"What, MJ?" he said, like a jerk.

"Just thought you should know that your daughter is like you now and your son has been missing for almost twenty-four hours," the High Priestess replied _calmly._

Vlad paled and snapped his phone shut. He looked at Lacey, who frowned at his expression and frowned deeper at his repeat of what MJ told him.

The next night Vlad was walking around the grounds of the Manaus HON and was greeted by an older man in a lab coat.

"Heya. You're Vlad Harris right? The tattoo gives you away," the man stated.

"Yeah, who're you?"

"Draven, the healer at this HON. Kaine was like my best friend." At the look he received he stated the previous statement. "She totally hated me."

Vlad nodded and waited for something important to be told to him.

"So, a while back your priestess sent us some DNA samples and giving you the results is cheaper than a stamp." Draven handed him an envelope and walked away quickly, trying to avoid the inevitable questions.

Vlad sighed and carried the envelope and its contents back to his room, where Lacey was probably refolding all of their luggage. He threw it to her and she shoved it in a bag that she was just about to close.

**Vancouver HON**

MJ was pacing behind her desk in her office. Her warrior was starting to give her an ulcer, or so she thought.

Yannette was sitting one of the chairs opposite of the desk, she was clutching her brother's phone, wondering if he was okay, where ever he was (**he's fine. Only being subject to physical abuse and harsh training everyday**).

"Where the hell is he! I'm going to skin the bastard alive!" MJ yelled.

Yannette shrugged and looked through Cain's contacts again, questioning the heart behind her own name.

A few minutes later Vlad walked in, Lacey following close behind.

"About time, Vlad." MJ glared at the male as he sighed. The warrior and human then turned their attention to their daughter who was staring up at them.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry..." Lacey bent down to hug her daughter. Vlad said nothing, only sighed again.

"It's fine Mom. I'm more worried about Cain."

Lacey frowned and nodded. "Do you have any idea where he might be?"

Yannette shook her head and started to cry again, causing her to be embraced in a hug again. Vlad looked at MJ. "Have you called the police?"

"No. I hadn't even thought of that." MJ replied sarcastically. "I even have the house warriors out looking for him, which you should be out doing!"

"I have more important things to worry about, like the future of our race?"

"Why don't we go catch up?" Lacey asked her daughter, pulling her up gently.

"How the hell can you say that you don't care about Cain with Yannette sitting there?" MJ yelled after she had left.

"It's not that I don't care, it's just that it's my responsibility to make sure these new mirrors grow up well."

"And now your daughter's one, so show her some fucking compassion."

"She's not my daughter." Vlad held up the envelope Draven had handed him a few hours earilier.

MJ snatched it and looked over the papers, understanding it just enough to know what Vlad was saying was the truth.

Yannette had type O blood and Vlad had type AB, meaning that he couldn't be her father. But there was also the fact that Lacey was AB too.

"But she came out of Lacey. This can't be right." MJ stated very pitifully.

"Check the next page."

Thirteen bands similar to Sampson Capulet and seventeen similar to Siegfried Dymitri, enough for her to be a siblings of both or either. Twenty-three similar to one Kaine Macabre.

"But Kaine died long before Yannette was born. And who's Sampson Capulet?"

"Does it matter? Yannette's not mine and she's not Lacey's!"

"Have you told Lacey?"

Vlad sighed and slumped into the chair his "daughter" had vacated. "No. I can't bring myself to do it. She loves her too much."

"GLaD there's love somewhere in the family." MJ rolled her eyes. "Either way, as a mirrored fledgling she's your responsibility. Now go talk to her!"

"Maybe when she's done being mad at me."

MJ rolled her eyes. "She doesn't get mad at you. Now Cain on the other hand..."

"Yeah, maybe he ran away because of me?"

"There's always that possibility. So about Yannette becoming a student now?"

"Yeah go for it. Are you going to room her with an older student so she can jump right into a friend base?"

"Of course not. She's younger than most third formers, Vlad! She already knows so much so I was hoping that she could help a younger student. Don't worry your pretty little head, I already picked out a roommate for her." With that MJ left to round up the older twin.

After a slight arguement about whether Yannette could just stay in her room or not, the three females in Vlad's family-thing carried some boxes over to the dorms.

"Yay! A roomie!" A girl with a distinctive eastern US accent said with a smile.

Yannette smiled and introduced herself as her "mothers" attempted placing some of her trinkets.

"Oh, I know who you are. Some of my classmates were talking about you. I'm Niabi."

"That's a cool name."

"Yeah, it's a Native American name. I'm one sixth Susquehannock."

"Niabi is a transfer from the Baltimore House of Night." MJ stated heading toward the door, dragging Lacey by the arm.

"That explains why she didn't over react to Yannette's mark. Vlad avoids that HON like the plague." And that was enough for the High Priestess to force her human counterpart out of the room.

"What's in Baltimore?" Yannette asked as she picked up the schedule MJ had laid on her desk.

"That's where the first Mirror lived, and died "

They continued talking for a little while longer, until Vlad knocked and entered.

Yannette threw a pillow at him. "Get out of here, Dad."

"Yannette, we need to talk. I'm sorry about being insensitive about Cain and stuff."

"'And stuff?' Really,?" Niabi asked, laughing slightly.

Yannette looked at her. She sighed and got up, heading to the cafeteria.

"Look, Dad, I understand the kind of stress you're under but it hurts that you never visit." Yannette sat on her bed. Vlad sat across from her on Niabi's bed.

"I'm sorry. You and Cain just remind me of her so much."

"Who?"

"Kaine Macabre. My predecessor." He pulled out his wallet and handed her a picture of the brash female.

"She's beautiful. Did you name Cain after her?"

"No, that was your MJ's idea. I didn't get a say in the naming of you two."

Yannette laughed slightly then noticed the book Vlad carried in. "What's that?"

"This is Xia's instruction manual. I wanted to see if you could read it." He traded the photo for book. He watched hopefully as she opened the book.

"What language is this?" She paged through and looked at some of the illustrations in horror.

"I don't know what it's called. You can't read it?"

"Sorry, no. What would it mean if I could?"

"I lot less work for me." Vlad stood. "I'll be here for awhile, since I can't do much else until I know who has what element. If you need help at school or just want to talk..."

Yannette nodded. "And you'll help find Cain until you leave, right?"

A nod was the reply and he left.


	10. South of the Circle

**So, I've written like four chapters about Vlad's kids and I've been neglecting my other dear main characters and updating in general. I would like you to all know that I decided to work on this instead of a three day late essay when I regained my muse. So I'm going to stop rambling and give you some character growth of your first main character. And they still speak German in Germany, they didn't change their national language in the last few months.**

Adelle was lounging under tree on the grounds of the Berlin House of Night. The moonlight rested on her face as she called to Steffi, who was perched on one of the branches smoking a cigarette; "Hey, Stef, you never told me what your family's like."

Steffi remained silent and blew out another puff of smoke. The blonde rolled her eyes and reworded the question.

"Listen, I know you think that every one here had like a crappy childhood or something and that's why they were choen by Nyx, but I wasn't chosen by her so the same rules don't apply." Steffi replied half angered.

"I didn't mean anything by it; I just thought since I told you about my past you could share yours. Fair is fair, you know?"

Steffi dropped out of the tree and sat beside her roommate. This is pretty much how every day of the week had been spent since they met. It was only ever just the two of them, since they couldn't find any one to be close friends with even in the HON. The younger girl told the Mirror about her past and her thought processes, past relationships, and the like and Steffi avoiding the questions about her own past that came after.

Today Steffi was particularly annoyed at Adelle because of a conversation they had earlier, before classes were supposed to start. It had started with an innocent mention of Steffi's clothing choice always covering her entire torso and arms, and how she only changed in the bathroom. Steffi had freaked out on the fourth former girl and hadn't talked to her until dinner.

Steffi pulled out her lighter and watched the flame, an odd expression of hate blistering just behind her eyes. Adelle was shocked at this and stared at her roommate, waiting for and answer.

"I had a pretty normal childhood. My dad was a lawyer and my mom stayed at home until my youngest sister started school. A younger brother that was always annoying me quickly taught her to do the same. We saw my grandparents, on both sides, frequently. I use past tense not because I'm a fledgling, but because they're dead."

Adelle nodded and was almost appalled by the lack of affliction in the girl's voice. The Mirror continued when Adelle said nothing.

"Four years ago, a man my father was persecuting broke into our house one night and shot my parents and both my younger siblings. He then set fire to the house with all of us inside. I know he would have shot me too if not for the fact my room was always like a secret base that the entrance to was always hard to find. My mother and younger sister died instantly, according to the M.E. My father died from smoke inhalation and my brother is in a coma in a near by hospital. I suffered from severe burns but I'm still alive, for now at least. Every year after that I lost a grandparents." After she finished she tucked her knees against her chest and waited for Adelle to reply.

The other girl said nothing, only gave her a huge hug until Steffi told to her get off. The two returned to their room. As they changed, Adelle saw her roommate's scars for the first time.

Just for a change of pace, the two decided to attend class for the first time all week. As they walked into Cleo's classroom, late, after lunch she smiled and mocked them slightly. "So nice of you two to join us, very glad that the Mirror and her entourage could grace us with their presence."

Both headed to the empty lab desk in the front of the room that was obviously theirs. Cleo then went into the lesson without missing a beat. "Today, fledglings, we will be continuing to learn about lab saftey. We will be doing fire safety, which is my favorite," the high priestess's smile widened as the room heated up slightly. "What do we always do first when I mention chemicals or fire?"

One of the more masculine males raised his hand enthusicatly.

"Vulcan, I'm going to regret this, but what is the answer?"

"Run for the hills and call the fire department on the way." The rest of the class laughed as did the priestess.

"Very funny, but no. We put on our goggles and aprons, mostly so we can keep our insurance rates lower. So you should all do that now." The class did as directed, except Steffi.

"What's wrong?" Adelle asked, half guessing the answer.

"I don't like fire that I can't control completely." The brunette whispered in reply as she watched some of the students pull out their Bunsen burners.

"But you chain smoke?"

Cleo instructed the rest of the class, but watched the two slackers from her peripheral vision. She figured they'd need _special _ help after the mass lesson.

"What's wrong girlies?" Cleo asked, bending down so her chin was level with the desk.

"Steffi's afraid of fire."

"Ah, I almost forgot about that," at Steffi's WTF expression she added: "It's a Priestess's duty to know all she can about her students."

"So, how are you planning on having me pass this class with a partner that can't handle fire?" Adelle said. Steffi glared at her but sighed and looked at the priestess in the same hopeless manner as her roommate.

Cleo chuckled at them as she pulled the Bunsen burner to the center of the table and hooked it to the gas nozzle. She was confident they both knew, in theory at least, how to work one.

After several minutes of the priestess explaining the basic principles of the burner, she finally was letting Adelle light it. The blonde was failing epically at it, she couldn't even get a spark. Before the priestess could light it for them, she finally noticed the line of students lining up behind her.

"Priestess," the boy who had answered before stated, "none of can light our burners."

"None of you?" Cleo looked at them all skeptically. The class nodded collectively. With a sigh, the priestess summon some fire power and sent it to the gas coming out of Steffi and Adelle's burner. Nothing happened. She tried again. And again.

After several tries more tries, she dismissed the class. The fledglings weren't bothered by the fact in the slightest, glad to get half a period free to do whatever.

When the room was empty Cleo sat at the girls' desk again and looked at the burner. One last time she tried to light it with her affinity. It worked that time, and the flame wasn't exactly small. Contemplatively, the priestess looked out the door; she wondered which student might have been causing the lack of fire her in room, but she had a pretty good guess.


	11. Center of the Circle

**So, this is me finally updating . I hope ya'll aren't terribly mad at me. So without further adue…**

Akash tackled the boy on the bed across the room. Tarak awoke with a start. His boyfriend was frowning down at the Mirror.

"I woke up and you weren't there." The younger boy pouted.

"Sorry. I had a lot on my mind." He motioned to his mark. With a sigh, the normal fledgling got up and went to get dressed.

"I hope you know that you're going to class tonight."

Tarak groaned and pulled the covers above his head. Akash pulled them down again and pulled the older fledgling on to the floor. The mirror pulled the younger down with him and embraced him.

"Come on! If you're not going to go to class, at least let me!"

Tarak sighed and release his boyfriend and sat back on his bed. "I think I'll go pray in the temple a bit later, maybe it'll make me feel better."

The younger boy snorted. "Which Gods are you going to pray to?" he nodded at the two different texts on the other's desk. "Besides, you could just as easily go after class."

"I'll pray to any that'll listen, and I want to go now, okay?" He sighed again and stared at the far wall.

Akash sighed too and sat next to him, half dressed. "Is there anything you want to talk about? You know that I'm here for you, no matter what."

Tarak snogged him lightly and sent him off to class, promising that they'd talk later. After a few minutes of nothing, he finally motivated slowly; clothes were put on and a wad of junk food from the dorm pantry was shoved down his throat.

When he finally got to the temple, it was Kimi's free period and she was meditating beside the statue of Nyx with a purple candle burning. She opened one eye as he entered. "Ah, Tarak. Come to pray too?"

"Yeah... But I wasn't sure Nyx'd still listen to me, since I'm different now."

Kimi laughed lightly, "Well, she never denied Kaine council, I'm sure she would never abandon one of her children just because they were forced from her by Xia. Even if she doesn't answer, she'll listen to you; hell, she might answer later with some fun schizophrenic riddle."

He replied with an unamused fake laugh. Standing there awkwardly, he watched the candle's flame brighten and dim with the Priestess's breathing. His eyes then moved to the statue; his parents had small statues of all the Hindu Gods in their living room.

"What's wrong? I know that you were uncomfortable giving up your religion when you first came here, is that still a problem?"

"Yes and no, I guess." He finally sat down across the flame from her; nearness to the flame was instantly soothing, which he credited to the Priestess. "I've finally accepted Nyx, but now I have a new Goddess and I still can't give up Brahman."

"Are you parents very strict about your original religion?" Kimi was still determined to keep her legs crossed and her arms up for a bit longer.

"Not really, they're still believers but it's a whatever thing in the family."

"Do you talk to your family a lot?"

Tarak nodded. "And Akash does too, but I haven't met his yet though he's met mine."

"Well, even when my friends and me were third formers, only Tilla and Circe ever talked to their parents, and that was barely really. Circe saw her mom once a week but otherwise never talked to her family."

"Really? Because everyone here still talks to their parents regularly."

"The way most Houses of Night run was such a shock when I first changed Houses, the Baltimore HON always was a little strange."

"At least it gave you a different perspective on things than most Vampyres?"

Kimi laughed again and stood up. "I have classes to teach. I'll leave the candle, since it's seemingly a good antidepressant; it does the same for me too."

As she left, he moved to where she was sitting. Tarak assumed a similar sitting position as she had and started thinking about all the things he wanted to know.

_Why him? Was he really cut out for this sort of thing? Not just being a "Mirror," but being a fledgling at all. Is this war of Xia's worth all the danger Kimi is too kind to tell him about? Who was worth all this effort she was putting into the preparations for this supposed war? What did they do to piss her off? Was there anything more he would have to give up for Xia? What role could a kid like him play? Moreover, what role would Xia force Akash to play?How could Nyx just sit back and watch what Xia was doing? Were there any more crazy Moon Goddesses he should know about? Or any other Gods and Goddesses period?_

He even threw a few questions to his Hindu Gods at the end, just in case. With a sigh, he stood and picked up the candle. It might've been his imagination, but he could have sworn that the flame glowed brighter when he picked it up; he assumed it was his mind playing tricks. In a light breath he blew out the candle and replaced it with its set.

Upon leaving the building, he made note of the time on the moon dial. The last class of the day would soon be out. With a smile he headed to Akash's last class and waited outside the door for a spell.

As the younger fledgling came out, Tarak tapped on his shoulder and was instantly glomped then had his hand taken hostage.

"So, did you go to the temple?"

"I did."

"And?"

"I feel better. She didn't answer me or anything, but just having it all off my chest, so to speak, made me feel so much better."

"I'm glad. Is there anything you want to talk about, with an actual person?" They were heading toward their dorm; there was tons of time before dinner and Akash's plan included Tarak watching him do homework while they talked.

"Nah, there is something I'd like to do with an actual person, but it isn't talking." Tarak smiled flirtatiously at the other boy; his plans clearly different than his roommate, friend, and lover.

Akash rolled his eyes dramatically. He really wanted to get his homework, but Tarak's offer was tempting.


	12. North of the Circle

At one of the round tables in the empty cafeteria, the highest ranking Dark Daughter and sons were holding a meeting to discuss the Full Moon ritual and events for the month. The red-headed leader was nodding off, as usual. Her roommate, who would normally be leading the meeting in during her friend's unconsciousness, also was dozing off. Fahima's boyfriend couldn't bring himself to wake up the real leader, so he settled on nudging his girlfriend awake.

Cassidy stretched herself after the meeting was over. She looked curiously at her tired roommate as Nuhad told the tale of the girl falling asleep not only at the meeting but in at least one of her classes.

"Miss Good-goody-backwards-mark has never fallen asleep anywhere but her bed before." Nuhad stated, matter-of-factly.

"She has been sleeping pretty badly. The last several nights she woke gasping for air and stood in the bathroom for almost an hour before coming back to bed." Cassidy shrugged at Fahima's creeped out look. "That mark flipping giving you nightmares?"

The mirror sighed and leaned on the table. "Yeah, it has to be. I keep having the same dream... sort of..."

"What do you mean 'sort of'? Either it's the same or not."

"It always starts with this shadowy figure with bright green eyes and a filled in backwards mark..."

"Can you see anything else on her?" The ginger felt as if she knew the figure her friend was describing, from some other life.

"No, just the mark and eyes. There were vines and a sword in her mark though." Fahima took a breath before continuing. "It always starts with her holding a tree branch to my throat. Sometimes it turns into a sword and she lunges. Other times, she flips the branch and holds the handle of various blades out to me."

"Have you ever taken it?" Nuhad asked, his interested spiked at the mention of blades.

"I have, but then she falls on the blade."

Cassidy rummaged in Nuhad's bag and pulled out his laptop. She pulled up a specific picture.

"What are you doing? If this is some kind of prophecy, it means I have to kill someone like me, or she'll kill me." Fahima sighed, placing her chin on the table.

Cassidy snorted and placed the picture in front of the girl.

Fahima perked up and stared at the woman's eyes and Mark. "Who is this?"

"Kaine Macabre. She's been dead longer than we've been alive. You don't have to kill her, and she certainly won't be killing you."

"Well that's one person that won't kill her at least." Fahima glared at her boyfriend for the comment; he shrugged.

"Ah. So you called your parents and told them that you're a legitimate spawn of satan then?" Cassidy sighed. "Glad that Isis doesn't let them on the grounds, huh?"

"Yeah, they weren't very happy when I described this Xia person. You haven't talked about your parents for a while, what's up with them?" Fahima sighed, attempting to change the subject.

"They went back to England about two weeks ago, and I'm happy for them. I know how tired they were getting of the desert." Cassidy smiled and yawned. "I'm tired; going back to bed!"

"You can't go to bed! It's the middle of the day! Our free period is going to be over in ten minutes!"

"Nope. Going to bed. See you later." With that, the red-head bounded off to her room.

The mirror turned when her roommate greeted the priestess. She sighed and walked over to the door.

"What's up?" the fledgling asked, a little annoyed.

"Not much. I overheard your dream. Would you like to talk about that, or maybe your parents?"

"I want to know what the dream could mean."

"That is understandable, come we'll discuss it."

Sitting in the priestess's study, Fahima sipped on the tea she was supplied with. She smiled at the painting of the goddess on the wall.

"So could you tell what kind of branch Kaine was holding?" Isis asked, pulling up the vampyre's profile on her own laptop.

"No. It was just a branch."

"Well, Kaine's element was Earth. Maybe the branch represents the affinity and she'd handing it down to you."

"According to Cassidy, Xia said something about giving be something the former owner could have done great things with."

The priestess nodded. "Then it adds up. We'll see for sure during the full moon ritual. Any other concerns?"

"What about her killing me, in the dream?"

"I don't know. I guess you'll have to find out, huh?"

"Helpful."

"I'm not a Goddess. I don't know everything. I'm sorry." The priestess sighed. "I'll let you get back to class, but if see your roommate please tell her to come see me, okay?"

Fahima laughed. "Well, she's sleeping in the room right now, so if you go over there..."

"Ah. I would love to go wake up the lazy Dark Daughter leader."

The priestess walked over the dorm room of the two highest ranking fledglings on the campus and knocked on the door. After getting no answer, she sighed and opened the door. She sighed again and closed it promptly.

Nuhad exited the room promptly, nodded at the priestess and headed to class.

"Listen, Isis, I can explain..." Cassidy started.

The priestess put up her hand to stop her. "I am here to discuss another matter, you can explains this to your friend."

"Okay. What did you want to talk about?"

"Your lack of responsibility regarding your position of leader of the Dark Daughters."

"Oh... Yeah... I'm trying to get better. Sort of..."

"Can you promise that you can actually do it? Since Fahima has been rooming with you, you've let this slip."

"I know, but it was just because she was content to do my duties for me. She's going through a lot right now; I want to get back to doing it so she can focus on her issues."

"Well, you might want to think about helping her with her issues, not adding to them." The priestess left on that note, leaving the ginger to stew.


	13. Out of the Circle

**Lesson Two: Trapping and Compassion**

A day after our fun salad exercise, Eden threw a piece of scrap cloth at me while we were out in the forest.

"Why can't everything you throw at me be so light?" I grumbled. She scoffed.

"It's material for trap setting, you insolent child. You need to learn to catch small game. Wolves need meat, and if you're hurt you can test your luck with traps to avoid confronting bigger animals."

Glumly, I mimicked her as she set traps. I was hoping to get it over with, as Tilla had challenged me to some video games. Luckily for me it wasn't _too _hard.

"Good doggie. Now, putting it anywhere will do you about as much good as just sleeping with your mouth open. You've got to set them on commonly used trails and such." I glared at her as she messed with my nose. "Sniff out where they've been, my little bloodhound. Whatever you catch will be the only thing you eat tomorrow. Now, it smells of rain. I'm going back, so hurry up. I don't want the house to smell like wet dog."

She strutted back to the cabin, leaving me in the woods alone. With a sigh I looked in the bag of traps to be set and hoped I'd get at least one right. It started raining before I was done, so had to get drenched before heading back to the cabin. Since I smelt, Eden made sleep outside in the rain.

The next morning, we went to all of my traps: nothing. As we were heading to the last trap, I wasn't very encouraged that there would be anything there. I was just about to say that it was hopeless and I should just give up, when she raced ahead.

A chocolate-brown marten was struggling and shivering in the trap I had made. I could feel the colour run from my face as I looked, shocked at my mentor.

"You did this. If you had set your trap as a proper noose, it'd have died painlessly. Instead you've left the poor thing to die slowly from freezing." Eden snarled coldly. "End its misery. You're plenty strong enough. Snap its neck."

I couldn't kill it. I just couldn't. No matter how much pain it was in... I stepped back, away from responsibility."I-I can't do it!"

She told me what I already knew; I was responsible and it was hypocritical to of me to eat food others had killed and not kill things myself. I looked at the freezing animal again, as she told me to make it right.

"I can't kill it!" I cried out. Pleading for her and the marten's forgiveness with my eyes. I didn't get any sympathy from the vampyre; she snarled and punched me in the stomach, doubling me over.

"You coward! You've already killed it. You don't deserve the title of wolf; you're a fucking housepet!" She moved to kill the marten; I blocked her, despite the fact that she could easily have killed me too.

"Let me save it! Please!" I begged, sheilding the animal from her. She hissed, scratched my face, and ran away.

I picked up the animal and trap, untangling it. I kept telling it to calm down; it didn't. On the way back to the cabin, I received several scratches.

**Lesson Three: First Aid**

"Tilla," I panted, showing the kinder woman the animal, "can you help it?"

She looked it over, narrating what was happening and quizzing me. "Just entering severe hypothermia. What should we do?"

I groaned inwardly. I knew nothing about first aid; I could barely put on a Band-Aid. "Put it in front of the fire?"

She shook her head, a buzzer sounded in my head as I frowned. "No. Warm anyone up that fast and they'll go into shock or have a heart failure. Torso to torso contact is the best way. Only thing is, you smell like a wolf. It may panic."

Her eyes rested on her mate, who did not look even remotely happy. "Ed~en! Can you help, pretty please?" She cooed to the other female, prancing over to where she was sitting. "It'll panic if you don't help!"

Eden glared at Tilla. "He directly disobeyed me! Not to mention he was a bloody coward about it!"

"Aw, but that's not the marten's fault! C'mon, all the things you've killed you can't stand to save one?" Tilla asked, tugging her arm gently; Eden followed despite her protest.

I was amazed to see Eden looking so calm, and almost kind. She cooed to the animal, keeping their eyes locked. The power in her words was incredible; I was shocked she didn't just use that on me when she was mad.

Eventually the marten allowed itself to be clutched to my chest, awkwardly, without trying to claw my skin to confetti. Tilla walked me through the rest of the steps to get it healthy again over the next few days.

**Lesson Four: Responsibility**

The marten I had condemned and then saved, was a lively female. I cared for her, not being awarded at first with anything but scratched while feeding her. When Tilla decided that it was healthy enough, we attempted to put her back in her natural habitat; but she apparently prefered our cabin since she snuck back in.

Tilla was fine with me making a pet of the animal; Eden wasn't as sure and openly voiced her concern. "This thing is not domestic." _Neither was she. _"Dadga may be a fox, but she's also Tilla's familiar: they share a special understanding. You're trying to keep a wild animal in a house. I won't oppose you, but if it crosses me I'll hurt it, if it gets in the way of your studies I'm kicking it out, and if it breaks anything you fix it."

I almost regretting taking the deal soon enough. She broke things, and tried breaking Tilla at least twice by tripping her. Eden, graciously, informed me her pent up energy would have normally been used for hunting.

Tilla's familiar tried to eat the marten frequently, receiving scoldings from even Tilla. Though this led to the marten jumping onto my shoulder for safety and frequently took. I grew fond of the small wild animal; I named her Gwin.

**Lesson Five: Combat**

I was shocked at first, when we were simply walking through the forest, uneventfully. I _was_ shocked, until she spun and kicked my shin. I yelped and asked her what the hell she was doing; though, I could guess this was going to be another one her stupid lessons.

She smirked slightly, barking out more orders. "Shins are good for pain, but not for injury. You're fine: get up." She moved into what I assumed was a fighting stance. Not knowing what else to do, I mirrored her. She kicked the side of my thigh, dropping me to the ground.

Her head shook in disappointment. "No. I'm much smaller, weaker, and faster than you. I fight differently. You can't just mimic me." She directed me into a stance, different than hers that she called the "generic strong guy stance", and instructed me in a basic human-anatomy in correlation to fighting.

After that she explained that someone like her, small, was best suited for dodging; I was best to block attacks. She trained me for the next few hours of moonlight to block.

**Lesson Six: Dodging**

Eden had perched herself on a branch next to her cat. "You also need to know how to dodge attacks."

I sighed. "Didn't you just say I should focus on blocking?:

"Now Pup, you disappoint me. Can you block a blade with your bare hands? How about a bullet?"

"My name isn't Pup, it's—" I began. An acorn hit my shoulder, distracting me. When I looked back up at her, the crazy fledgling was tossing a sharp rock into the air with a grin on her face. I gulped.

She made a point of telling me that her eyes would give away where she was aiming. I ignored her the first time, assuming she was going to aim for my head. The rock was sent flying toward my thigh; I cursed in pain.

"Maybe the bruise will remind you not to assume. My eyes, genius." She pointed to her eyes and flung a stick toward me.

At some point I had worked out following her eyes, and dodged most of her attacks that didn't involve her throwing large handfuls of things at me. I was still on guard when she turned over her sack and nothing fell out. She smiled at me as she hopped off the branch and informed her mewling cat to get down himself.

"Not too awful, Pup. You can now be assured that you won't die from small white girls throwing acorns at you." She smiled again and almost skipped back to the cabin.

That was an awfully specific circumstance, but I figured I wouldn't point it out to her; I didn't want her to throw something at me that I couldn't dodge or block. With a sigh, I followed her back, wondering all the way what hell I'd be in for the next day.


	14. West of the Circle

Iara awoke to a loud noise: the noise of her clutz of a roommate tripping over the crap covering her side of the room. Sitting up, flashes of the vivid nightmare ran through her mind: blood, pain, ecstasy, and her ex-boyfriend's smile. As she wiped the sleep from her eyes, the Mirror looked at Jordan as if the girl was daft.

"What the hell are you doing?" She turned her eyes to her alarm clock and frowned harsher. "Do you know what bloody time it is?"

"Yeah! The malls aren't open late at night so if one wishes to go shopping, he or she has to do it now~!" the girl replied, unraveling herself from her spare sheet. "You're coming with me! Your wardrobe is positively dreadful!"

"What's wrong with my wardrobe?" Iara sighed and got out of bed. As she looked in her closet, she frowned. "Right, I don't have one..."

Jordan smiled and grabbed a bottle of concealer from the bathroom and started patting it onto the other girl's forehead. She frowned as she attempted to pile on the concealer. "How is this physically possible! It's just discolored skin; what is happening?"

The mirror sighed and pushed away her roommate's hands. "Vlad just said that it can't be covered by makeup, sounded like he didn't know why either..."

"He sounds like he's completely useless." the normal(-ish) girl said as she put a large bandage on her friend's forehead. "You could totally do better for a mentor. Mine, Professor Draven, is ridiculously awesome!"

Iara rolled her eyes and thought about the short glimpse she had seen of the Healer of their HON.

"Anyway, we're all set to go-go!" Jordan dragged the girl out of the dorms and started heading for the gate. Her mentor was standing, as if waiting for them.

"Hey Draven!" the girl said waving, attempting to get around him. "Just going to the mall."

"No, you're just going to the mall. Iara's going to go to the mall, get four consorts, kill a hundred people, get shot, and get the wrong size shirt." Draven said, looking at the mirror

"What the hell are you talking about? Why would I do anything like that?"

"Because of the mark on your forehead. It's Chosen One physics as Eden used to call it."

"Are you not letting you out then? It's not against the rules!" Jordan complained.

"No, you may do as you wish. Just thought I'd let Iara make an informed decision. Get your roommate kidnapped, get arrested, turn gay, possibilities are endless."

Sticking her tongue out at him, Jordan pushed her roommate out the gate. Iara looked back at him, curious how he came to the assumption something bad was going to happen to her.

After an hour of shopping, nothing of note had happened. But of course, when they got to the food court, Iara noticed someone she knew. A boy she once dated until he moved to Manaus and they couldn't quite handle the distance. He had his arm around another girl. Jordan noticed her gaze.

"Oooh! He's cute. Shame about the girl though." the girl said as she sipped on her soda.

"He's my ex-boyfriend. I had a dream about him last night..." The mirror looked at her friend. "Do you think it means something?"

Before she could be answered, the boy noticed the two and wandered over after finding an excuse to tell his new girl. "Iara?"

"Oh, hey Cid. How are you?"

"I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I live around here now. This is my roommate Jordan. Jordan, this is my friend Cid." The mentioned girl smiled amusedly at him as continued picking at her kiddie meal.

"Roommate? I didn't know you were trying to get into a boarding school around here." He looked between the two girls, slightly confused.

"I wasn't, but I did. Not much choice where I go to school now." Iara rolled her eyes at Jordan again. Cid still wasn't getting it by his facial expression.

"The House of Night?" The roommate butted in. "She's a vampyre now."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'm fine with being a vampyre." The mirror smiled at him, knowing he was just unsure what to say.

"Your girlfriend's looking a little testy, Cid." Jordan nodded at the girl that was hanging all over him earlier.

"She can handle herself." He finally sat down, smiling at his ex-girlfriend. "It's good to see you, no matter what species you are."

She smiled back at him. The two caught up, Jordan wandered off to do some more shopping. When she came back the two were making out heavily and the new girlfriend was nowhere to be seen. Later, Iara went searching for her friend, to tell her that she was ready to go.

"You might not have gotten four consorts, but I think a single human boyfriend is close enough." Jordan joked as they exited the mall and headed back to the HON.

"Oh shut up. No one died, no one got arrested or shot, and you certainly didn't get kidnapped." Iara retorted.

"We're not back yet are we? Again with the eye rolling, jeez you're mean."

Jordan didn't get kidnapped and both were glad they didn't see Draven, so they wouldn't have to tell him about the chance meeting with Iara's ex. When they got to their room, Iara noticed she did get a shirt in the wrong size and laughed. Her roommate went back to sleep after they unpacked their new things; the mirror stayed up, texting her ex-boyfriend. She even went as far as to agree to skip class and meet him at nightfall.

They went to his house and his parents weren't home, as Iara had always remembered. They went up to his room and she left just before his parents were expected to be home.

"So, where were you?" Draven asked as she entered the school grounds.

"I just went out, didn't feel up for classes..."

Draven gave him the skeptical look he used to receive from Kaine and wipped at the blood on the mirror's chin. "Didn't you? I never did either, but I played Call of Duty in the dorms."

"Don't you have a class to teach?"

"I do, but I was playing Call of Duty!" He smiled at her and walked off.


	15. East of the Circle

Yannette sat boredly in her classes, her room throwing things at her in any class they shared if she happened to fall asleep. She made a point to skip her father's class, and MJ actually. The girl had read each of the handbooks enough times to know anything she would have to about normal Vampyres.

What she did a lot of, was sit outside in the lantern light, watching the Vancouver breeze move the old trees on the grounds. Vlad would find her and try to tell her things about Mirrors, but she usually shrugged him off, telling him "You complain about that all the time", "I know, MJ told me about it", or "Mom always loves telling that story."

There wasn't much for Vlad to tell her, so Yannette wasn't too sure why her father was hanging around, since he obviously wasn't looking for Cain.

She had never noticed how much she desperately needed other friends growing up, but as Niabi pointed out that was all she talked about, she had a break down. Niabi was unsure of how to deal with it, like any other time the Mirror cried herself to sleep because of her brother, but tried to comfort her new friend just the same.

"I had a good number of friends in Baltimore, but when I came here, things were _different_." Niabi told her one night when she knew Yannette was only pretending to sleep. "Here, things are formal, by the book, like you hear about them. In Baltimore, we didn't talk to our families, even if they were supportive. People didn't die as much. We rarely celebrated the minor Vampyre holidays, instead making up our own ridiculous things. Apparently the House has gone through over dozen Priestesses in the last several years. We went through two while I was there and I was barely there half a year."

"Do they die?" Yannette still looked like she was asleep.

Shaking her head, Niabi sighed. "A few of them have, but most of them quit, because they can't live up to the original Priestess. It's hard to match someone that died protecting a student she didn't even like."

"I assume you mean the Priestess that was there while Kaine was alive?"

"Yeah. Her name as Anmarie. There's a shrine to the lot of them in the middle of the House of Night. It was always sad and a little creepy. There's room for so many more names."

Yannette finally looked at her. "I'm sure. We're in a war, and we're all probably going to die."

Niabi got up and opened her computer. "You remind of her."

"Who?"

"Kaine Macabre."

"I do sort of look like her."

"No, the way you act, the way the boys drool over you, just everything. You're like a little Kaine clone." Yannette sat up, seeing her roommate shove a laptop in her face. "This video was taken just before their first friend got Marked."

The video started roughly then a skinny male introduced himself as Anthony and introduced it like it was a show. It was obviously a high school cafeteria. Then it went to a shot of him making out with someone Yannette recognized, then paned around to two other talking about boys, and a second pair playing not-touching-you. Finally it moved to Kaine's face.

"_Anything to say to the camera, Brittany?" _The boy holding the camera asked_._

"_Get it out of my face dude."_

"_Bad mood? What's wrong?"_

Kaine smirked, shooting him the finger_. "You thinking you can so easily put a move on my girl." _Then she smiled, both laughing_. "But seriously, you know I hate when you do this."_

"_Makes it more fun for me."_

The girl he made out with spoke up_. "Oh, leave Brittany alone. Another boy is relentlessly stalking her, probably."_

One of the girls in the second pair laughed_. "It has to be the boobs, certainly not her winning personality."_

The other tickled her and insulted her.

Kaine smiled sadly past the camera_. "Just, not right now, okay? Please?" _When the camera didn't move, her fist reached out and the boy 'oof'ed._ "Asshole."_

Yannette shut the laptop, moving to lay back down. She saw what Niabi was saying. Kaine and her were practically the same person, though maybe she was less aggressive. Her roommate was talking to her, but she wasn't listening. She knew her roommate was trying to compliment her, Kaine was a hero, but she was also dead.

She waited for Vlad the next day. "Did you ever met Kaine Macabre?"

He sighed. "Hello to you too. No. She died just before I was born."

Nodding, Yannette glared at him. "But you did know her."

"She visited me in a dream or two. Why are you asking about it?"

"Am I connected to her?"

"Well, I mean we both are, so are the rest of the Mirrors."

"I didn't mean like that, Dad. I saw her, in a video. We're exactly the same."

"I wouldn't say that, Yannette. I mean my understanding is that she was very comfortable with her body and her solution for everything was to break something."

"But under that."

"Yannette, you don't want to know."

"I need to know."

Vlad wiped his face with his hand. "Genetically, you're her daughter. You're not Lacey and mine. Your blood type doesn't even match to us."

She shook her head. "But… but… Lacey's my mother… Cain's my brother…"

"I know. It's definitely something I need to ask Xia next time I see her." Yannette turned to walk away. "You're still my daughter, Yannette. I love you. And I haven't told your mother."


	16. More Lessons

**Lesson Seven: Weapons**

Tilla was kind enough to join Eden and me in our lessons that day. As she walked in front of us, I eyed the gun hiding in her under-arm holster. She turned and smiled mischievously at us once we were in the clearing.

"So Puppers, you may have survived with Eden as a teacher, but now it's my turn."

I groaned. "Does nobody know my name? It's-" I jumped as bullet lodged itself into the dead tree behind me. My silent plea for help from Eden was answered with excited giggles.

"Aw Pup! You thought I was the crazy one? Tilla was a madly skilled markswoman in her time." Eden commented with an implied "at the House of Night" as she tossed me a gun.

Tilla warned me not to break the gun, as it belonged to a faraway neighbor of theirs. "Now, Eden may go for the Vancha March approach, but the fact is people use guns. They do. So, to level the playing field, you're going to have to be able to too."

She smiled and pointed at the end of her own gun. "This is the muzzle end of the barrel: the part you need to worry about the most. Make sure it's pointing at the enemy, not your face." Continuing, she pointed to various parts of her gun. She explained the physics behind the bullet coming out, but dumbed it down for me: "You pull this, death comes here." Thanks so much Tilla. At the mention of the safety she noted that Eden at disabled mine, like a jerk.

After her rant on gun safety and theory, she placed her gun back in its home and held a black rectangle in her one hand and ammunition in the other. "This is the magazine. It holds the bullets inside a gun. Now to load it, you have to press hard; you can't be a pansy. You try." She handed them to me, as I mumbled that I wasn't a pansy. When I got it in, she proceeded to tell me to push it out, telling me to catch it after it was already under a pile of leaves.

No longer had I handed her the lost bullet, than she had started back on her lecture and by the end of the night I had at least met Tilla's lowest standard for gun usage. At least it was one day down.

After some bribing, Tilla came with us the next day as well. Eden tossed each of us sticks, which were apparently swords.

"Today Pup, Tilla will teach you about the art of the sword." Eden announced, causing a squeak of surprise from the fairer female.

"But I've never used a sword before! How can I teach someone!?"

Eden sent me more silent "House of Night" glances as she gave Tilla some crap excuse and some orders.

"Oh, duh. I may be a bit rusty though, Pup. But don't complain when you get beaten with a stick." she said, holding her sword in ready position. I saw Eden grimace slightly and excused herself to look for her cat.

Tilla smiled and began her lessons for the day. I was inevitably beaten with a stick, but apparently did pretty well.

**Lesson Eight: Effective Communication**

If there was one thing I learnt about Eden, it was that she loved the sound of her own voice a lot. It was the day after a long night over her talking that I found myself gaming with Tilla. She spoke unexpectedly, "How'd the lesson go with Eden last night? I know how much she loves talking about communicating. Quite the self-proclaimed diplomat, eh?"

"Yeah, a bit. It was boring, honestly," Grimacing at the long night and how many times I thought about socking her in the mouth to shut her up, I replied. "She kept rambling about 'the language of the animals' and how 'the forest will always trust you'. What is that all about?"

"She's king of the jungle out here, ya know. Didn't even take her too long."

"She also gave me some information with dealing with humans an- and social situations..."

"Oh? Do you think you'll be able to use them at all?"

"Probably more than the animal stuff. Though the stuff about seducing girls, I don't know." I sighed and thought about some of the things she did say. I snorted at the last bit of info she did give me. "She spread her legs and asked if **she **was doing it because she was just as good as a guy or a slut."

"Totally the slut!" Tilla cackled.

"Did she try all this creepy seduction on you?"

"Nah, I did it on her." She winked and looked back to the screen seriously.

**Lesson Nine: Girls and Hunting**

Eden was looking through the book and I was shielding my pet marten from its creepy stare, when I decided to ask her. "I was wondering ... if you could give me some advice." I kept my eyes from hers.

"What kind of advice? I thought that was the point of your apprenticeship. What have you been getting from me the last month?"

"Well, about yesterday's [dreadful] lesson. There's a situation you didn't really cover." I could feel myself blush as I became flustered from embarrassment.

"Oh? And what would that be, my dear canine?"

I muttered into Gwin's coat. Eden fell off her boulder, laughing. I blushed deeper and told her to put a cork in it.

"Oi, you watch that tongue of yours around your elders, boy, or I'll rip it out!" She threatened to no avail, due to her giggling. "So our little Puppers has a girlie-friend! So proud, our little boy is growing up! I should call Tilla right away; she'd love to hear this one." After a few more giggles she seemed to realize something. "Actually I'm surprised you didn't go to her instead. She seems more the one for dating, doesn't she?"

"You're the self-proclaimed ultimate diplomat, aren't you? And yesterday it sure sounded like you knew what you were talking about. And, well, I was afraid Tilla would say something stupid and girly like 'be yourself'."

She snorted and insulted me. "Who is she?"

I ignored the comment and passed her my worn picture of the girl, taken only a few months before, I wished to discuss. She stopped for a moment and stared curiously. Eventually handing it back camly.

"Someday I'd love to study genetics to see how coincidences like this happen." She commented, casually but with no reason. "So, you find that birds' nest attractive?" Eden was mocking me again. But with her blood, dirt, and foliage encrusted, matted excuse for a Jew fro, the Vampyre had no room to talk about anyone else. "Who is she, then?"

I looked away from her as my face became hot from blushing. "My twin."

She blinked stupidly at me, her mouth hanging wide open. Suddenly she was coughing and rubbing her throat. "So you mean that your sister and you had a row, and now you want to make it up to her?"

I could see what the woman in front of me was trying to do, but I wasn't any more comfortable with it than she was. My feelings were still my feelings and I couldn't change that. "No. I- I love her." I stumbled on my words slightly as I added, "and not like a sister."

The gears in her head were grinding, visibly. As she thought, I clutched my fuzzy forest animal as if a stuffed animal. Eventually she sighed and showed me her palm, confusing me. "There is a test that my friends were taught by the biggest bitch I have ever had the misfortune to meet when we were still attending the Baltimore House of Night. It is quite simple to perform, and the only thing you have to lose is looking stupid if the test turns out to be false."

"It's a test to determine soul relations. Clotho, the Spinner, assigns everyone a soul mate before birth. If your twin is truly your soul mate, you can blame Clotho for it (the bitch). Now, to find out, hold your hand up her to her like I am now. If she automatically, instinctively, and without thought reaches out and entwines her fingers with yours, then you're soul mates. If she doesn't respond or does anything else, then you aren't soul mates, and this romance you supposedly have is purely dopamine and norepinephrine and you need to get over it."

I stared at her slightly, "So, you don't think it's gross or anything?"

Grinning, she replied, "I never said I didn't think it's gross. It is. But once you leave here, you're free to do whatever the hell you want as long as it doesn't impact Tilla or me. If you want to pop out some mutant wolf-children with your sister, have fun. Now, like I tried to say earlier, to turn into a wolf you need to think like one. And obviously, highlighted by you being love-struck, you do not think like a wolf. Wolves are primarily hunters, so I think the best way to get you thinking like a wolf is to take you hunting with me."

I stood up excitedly, though this would only give her more chance to poke fun of me. I sighed at her recall of the trapping disaster and promised it would be nothing like that. Eventually I warmed up to hunting, Eden and I became quite a pack.

**Lesson Ten: Transforming**

I was reading a horrible part of the book Luna had left us. Eden was doing something in the small river, maybe catching fish with her hands? Whatever she was doing, it wasn't working so well for her.

I yelled at her, trying simply to get her attention. She fell into the flow of the water and emerged, soaked. I roared with laughter at her even worse than normal appearance, for which I was awarded a combat boot to the head, I chuckled a bit more as I dodged.

The laughing stopped, however, as she took off her soaked shirt. She stared back at me, confused. "Why are you looking at me as if I had just punched a nun?"

"Because you can't just start taking your clothes off in the middle of the woods!" I replied, though someone as smart as her should have realized that.

She rolled her eyes and threw her wet pants at me. "If you don't want to see a lady old enough to be your mother in her undergarments, then don't push her into a river next time!"

I snorted, amused by the fact that she looked young enough to be my sister, no matter how old she actually was. "Oi, I pushed you? You fell in all by yourself."

She huffed angrily, I smiled. "You yelled! You wanted to startle me! And those stones are very slippery."

"The wet rocks are slippery? I would have never guessed. And didn't you say to always be to alert? You should have expected my yell." I replied mocking her as much as possible.

She threw her other boot, which I easily dodged with a smile. "Just because you can dodge now, doesn't mean I can't still kick your ass." She threat was ruined by her proud, creepy smile. After hanging the rest of her things on a tree branch, she sighed and continued. "Our month together is almost over, I'm afraid. Our last lesson is approaching." She listed everything I had learnt from her. Her tone changed with the last statement, commanding. "Now you need to be an animal."

She kept talking. Telling me I was wolf and that I had wolf-paws and I was wolf-hunter... But Eden was a convincing person and I could feel myself as the animal she described. After several painful jerks of my body, I blacked out.

When I came back to, I was in the same clearing wearing nothing. My clothes were over near the tree I had been sitting at, or what was left of my clothes. Eden's pants looked like a giant dog at gotten to them... One did: me. My arm felt as if it had been shot and then burnt... I reached into one of the wounds and pulled out what looked like a silver bullet, I tossed it into the creek as I focused on another problem: the taste of fresh blood in my mouth.

Looking around, I figured it wasn't Eden's or Tilla's, otherwise the bullets wouldn't have went in my arm. Then I saw her. My eyes welled with tears as I crawled over to the small woodland animal I once rescued. Eden and Tilla eventually wandered upon me. The more gruff female took Gwin from my hands and buried her as the markswoman treated my wounds.

I took her death hard, but was managed to be convinced that it was Luna's fault, not mine. When I finally came to grips with it, Tilla jokingly commented that "Your original goal was to kill her"; Eden decided to call me a slow learner in response.

Over time I received pieces of my first transformation: Eden in a tree, her arm gushing blood and the shots. Soon I was able to transform with minimal pain and while retaining my sanity, though. My skill in hunting increased as well. The lunar month was near its end and the full moon was so close.

**Lesson Eleven: Self Control and the Hardest Lesson**

On a whim, Eden decided to test my doggy-paddle skills, for which I shook the water from my furr onto her. She also wanted to test my wolf-form's reflexes. After dodging some more acorns, I turned back into my human form, got dressed, punched her playfully on the arm not in the sling.

"What-what the fuck are you?! You're a monster! You were just a wolf! And now…" one of Eden and Tilla's distant neighbors yelled, brandishing the gun he lent me for my shooting lessons. I put up my hands and moved toward him to disarm him. Panicking, he shot. I moved my head but got a graze to the shoulder.

I dropped to a defensive position, cupping my wound as my teacher darted forward. She supported herself on her good arm and gave him a kick to the neck; the man immediately collapsed to the ground. I rushed over and checked his pulse.

"What the hell are you playing at? You could have broken his neck!"

She looked down at him like any of the woodland animals we had hunted for food. I wondered quickly if that was because of her being a Vampyre or her being her. "I had to kick him. I couldn't have used my arm, could I?

I gaped at her, forming words in my head. "You didn't have to hurt him at all, you bitch! We could have calmed him down! You could have fucking commanded him to!"

She grabbed the collar of my shirt and looked at me seriously. I really wanted to spit in her eye. "He could have shot us both before I finished convincing him to settle down." I looked away, but she shook me. "Human lives are precious, and should be preserved. But yours is much more precious. Luna singled you out as her single heir, while there are millions of humans. You must not die. Remember that." She pushed me away and walked away.

When I walked into the cottage with the man in my arms Tilla rushed to help him, but on Eden's words she stopped. "He can't wake up. He knows what Pup is, Tilla."

"You call yourself a medic!?" I shouted at the vampyre; she flinched. "You let a man who has helped you die just because she told you to?" I held out the shirt Eden had abandoned the first time I shifted, as I turned to her. "Look what I found with him! He was only doing you a kindness!"

Tilla looked toward me with a steely, detached look that she sometimes wore if I stumbled on what was apparently the wrong topic. "We must protect ourselves."

Snarling, I ran out of the house, transforming mid stride. Eden found me in a clearing, pacing. She told me to follow her, and I did (grudgingly).

At the edge of the forest, as we could see the Vancouver city skyline, I turned back to myself. I looked around the city I had grown up in like a tourist, I knew it, but there was something about the buildings and people that seemed unfamiliar and unnatural. Eden mentioned the French Canadian mafia as she dragged me into the pizza shop I was drooling over.

I watched her look out the window as I dug into the grease covered pizza. She looked as if she wasn't a crazed psyco-bitch from hell for once. "Do you see all those humans out there? Going about their lives? There's a nice mother doing the shopping. And over there a surly shopkeeper. Haha, do you see that business man over there?" She pointed happily at the flustered man trying to call a cab. I was less interested in that than my pizza, but I looked at all the people she was pointing out. "What do you think could be so important that he is panicked over?"

I shrugged and tore off some crust. She lowered her voice. "The answer is nothing. In his small, insignificant life, whatever he is late for is important. But in the wide scale of things, it is not. The Fates singled you—and your sister, I'm guessing—out. Your destinies are strong and powerful. What happens to you can affect not only the Vampyre community, but future generations of werewolves and the human world. You have to protect yourself, don't you see? You cannot be selfish about one life when so many could be affected. No human is as important as you, and very few Vampyres."

As we left the city, we both stopped to look at the plaque marking our real home: the House of Night. When we got back, I didn't talk much for the rest of the night. Full moon was in two days.


End file.
